Week 1

The first week of the Sea Ox's restoration saw a lot of progress, all things considered! Over the course of two evenings, I was able to remove the deck and completey gut the hull, revealing a sound, beautifully laid up, 25 year-old hull. There weren't any real surprises during this phase of the project, except maybe for the number of beer cans, soda bottles, and weird items that I managed to pull out from beneath the Ox's deck...hard to tell whether most of them were left there during original construction, or whether they worked themselves in their over the years. The stringers beneath the deck were thoroughly rotted out (as expected), due to the length of time that the Ox sat (shoreside) uncovered and waterlogged. I removed the deck to within an inch or two of the hull walls, and removed the longitudnal stringers to within an inch of the hull floor. I intend to make some accurate measurements of the locations of the deck/stringers before removing them entirely....I also intend on designing the boats new layout in AutoCAD to maxmize material use, as well as make it easy to see how different layout options would look in the boat. By far the most satisfying part of the removal came at the end of the second night, when I took the pressure washer to the gutted out hull, cleaning out all the rotten debris and revealing the hull glass....Also, good news! The original fuel cell was constructed out of aluminum, is very sound, and the previous owner actually thought to empty it out when he took the boat out of service! This should save me several hundred dollars in replacement costs if the cell had been fiberglass (new ethanol loves to eat old glass resin) or thoroughly fouled.....also started to take a look at the outboard, which appears to be circa late eighties....I was able to preserve the controls...she'll turn over, but will definitely need some love before she'll be running smooth. Being that the motor is rated at 88 HP, we're definitely going to repower the boat, whether that happens before or after next years boating season remains to be determined. Next week will be dedicated to erecting a 12' x 20' shelter over the boat, made possible by my mom, who bought one of those "event tents" several years ago. It should be perfect for the upcoming winter of work, and should definitely extend my working season!