Blog — August , 2017

August  2017

In early summer, we began planning the removal of the keel in order to straighten the hog.

 As we began removing the planks, we found evidence of work that had been done earlier. At some point over the years, the lower half of the stem had been replaced. We could see where the bottom of the double frames had been cut through to allow the removal of this section. Bronze straps (outlined in chalk above) had been installed to bridge the joint between the lower frame end and the new section of stem. The repair had been done not with oak, but with iroko, an African hardwood with properties similar to teak. That suggests that it was done sometime during the 60’s, when the use of iroko was prevalent in Europe, but there are no records.

On either side of the main mast step a large naval brass plate (above) was fitted to add extra strength in this area. We decided to use these in the restoration as we thought it did no harm having the extra stiffness.