13 April 2012. C44 hull no.0, 'Emerald'. This is the original strip-planked boat that was built in 1973-75 by my dad, my brother, me, Frit and Lee. It was supposed to have been my dad's actual boat, for which my little Diana is named. That never happened because we sold too many boats too early and had to hurry into making a plug over it. It was finished in 1981-82 by a know-it-all engineer who apparently never asked a single question about what makes boats reliable, safe and easy to maintain. It has some beautiful woodwork below but also a hollow bowsprit with a galvanized-steel frame, no internal access to the stuffing box, a bilge completely full of twisted hoses, wiring and cable, and various fittings screwed straight into the planking with no bedding compound. Lee and I spent all summer resolving much of the PO's nightmares for the new owner, who sailed it south after October.
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