Finally, some boat building

So I was ripping my hair out trying to decide whether to go check out the
Iroko for the keel or wait to see if some Oak turns up and go back to the
saw mill to try and get some other bits instead.
I went with the latter and came home with enough Oak to replace the deadwood,
false keel, bowknee and mast step so we finally have something to get on with.

False keel

15"x 5" x 7' half what the length and weight of the keel. (and its heavy)
Note: the skill saw did not cut it, we used a big chainsaw 

bow knee

deadwood (much nicer)

The line on the right will not be cut, I'll leave the replacement  fuller than the original

Yielding no results

So phone call after phone call but still no keel, We drove out to a local saw mill
on Monday also, but the only piece  there is a few feet short. The most promising
one had logs long enough but on cutting they were poor quality.
I'm going to contact the local builder providers again tomorrow and if the lengths
of Iroko they had are still there we might pay the extortionate price that their
charging for it just for convenience and the ability to move on. With the saving in
fuel and the fact that the off cuts will be very useful it might work out well,
we'll see tomorrow.
On the plus side we found a forge that are going to replicate the Iron floors
for us, albeit in steel which we'll get galvanised.
I hadn't realized that wrought Iron was no longer readily available.

Waiting

So the waiting to find out about some Oak goes on, Every week I
call places back they say another week so not much I can do. Hopefully
tomorrow morning I will have some news on it. In the mean time I've
made some false "kind of half garboards" to fill the rabbet, I really only
did this firstly to practice spiling and secondly it gives me the true size
and shape of the keel prior to rebating.
I also went and cut templates for 5 of the Iron floors because unfortunetly
when the rust came off they have thinned quite a bit and will need
replacing as well. We're going to try and find a blacksmith to replicate
them but failing that she will probably get welded steel plate floors instead.

New Tamar Lifeboat

Took a break today to go have a look at Baltimores new Tamar class lifeboat
the "Alan Massey" arriving. Its a big beast compared to the last one.
As nice as it was to look at, lets hope she spends most of her time high and dry
in the boat house
http://www.baltimorelifeboat.ie/welcome-home-alan-massey/

Need to start putting stuff back

We went down today and done what we could,
The guy who had been laminating up the stem before we bought it had
stopped the plank end fastenings with epoxy so Ken began uncovering
them but after a chat with Liam we decided just to change the lower
bit of the apron and leave the laminated stem be as its not a bad job
and just needs finishing off,
Then we set about dropping out the deadwood, which after removing
the concrete either side and putting it mildly "removing" half of the stern
knee came out quite easily.
Now we really need to press on with the keel before we can continue with
frames, floors etc

Aft deadwood

Cans sealed down and filled with diesel to try and loosen old keel bolts

Why the keel needs replacing

The aft end has lots of repair patches and actually broke off as I lifted it on to the stand so I had to nail it back on.

Rotten frame fastenings were protruding from the center here

Splitting and rot under the bow knee, it no longer held the dumbs attaching the bow knee

The keel was made from Elm and is showing its 98 years of duty

Here ya go Leo

Got a nice bit done today, Ken removed the cockpit, I cut the keel loose.
We got the keel out without much hassle and finally got to have a look at
the 98 year old floor bolts. They were as you would expect.
Best of all theres not much left to remove.

Some Progress

So we got down as planned on Tuesday morning and despite the forecast for
imminent rain it actually stayed dry. The boat had already been moved so we
got on with shoring her up.
The keelbolts opened without any hassle bar one which we had to chisel into
the keel and cut off with the saber saw, The aft keelbolt which was hidded
under a metal plate had apparently been replaced with a wooden dowel, not
ideal.
We lowered off the ballast without much hassle and left it aside. I went back
down today and finished shoring her up so we should be able to jack her
up and remove the blocks under the keel when we're ready to slide it out
and just block it back up with a 9x3  in place of the keel to carry the load.
Also I finally got hold of a camera so heres some pics of this and that.

1 1/4 ton of cast iron

Not much good there

The bow knee was very weak and brittle

Wooden keel bolt !!!!!!!!

All striped out

All shored up and a bit of primer on the bare wood