Poor Ingrid - she had been resting on logs, inverted, under a tarp for years. Unfortunately her foredeck was not meant to bear this load and over time it got squashed. Bugged me to look at it, so.....
You can see the flat spot.
The deck camber was templated.
A laminated oak beam was made.
The hull was inverted and prepped, you can see the extent to which the camber was lost.
Finesse.... A crowbar and bungee cord to force the deck to the beam's camber and secure it while the epoxy cures.
Once cured, a piece of 1708 was laminated over top, This is now the strongest part of the boat!
Decided to use the leftover adhesive and scrap fiberglass to make a backing plate for the bow, forward of the oak beam to reinforce the area where the forestay chainplate attaches. The original was plywood and had rotted to nothing.
This was bevelled along its edges and secured with glass-filled epoxy putty. A layer of 1708 was laminated on top (with the boat inverted). The 1708 spans the foredeck and turns to overlap and bond to the hull topsides. Much stronger than original and not susceptible to water damage.
Work on the bow is done!
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