Assesment

Oscar had sent me some pictures of the boat, and said she needed the steel ribs replaced... And maybe some other work?
I had to go to Gotland with some tools and see how much "other work".

I had already commited in my mind to making this boat ready for the Jubilee regatta and had started the process of persuading my long suffering wife.
The obstacles were/are not small! The boat is situated on Gotland, an island in the Baltic, and I am based in Stockholm. This means a two and a half hour boat journey, after an hours drive - so clearly not practical to commute to "work". We have two daughters - a self-sufficient teenager and a three year old. And my wife works in the restaurant trade - so I have primary care for our children outside of school/daycare. I have my own business that I work from home, my own classic boat, and two part finished restorations I am consulting on... How to make it all fit together?
We decided that I would work intensive weeks on Gotland taking responsibility for the technical solutions and handing over to Oscar to work in my "off-weeks"... During which time I would work on my other stuff. Our youngest would follow me to Gotland and I would make it work as best I could.

We went to Gotland as a family and had a holiday, staying on Oscar's farm. I started digging into the boat...

Clearly at least 30 pairs of the steel ribs need to be replaced with the floors. The hog, a large section of the stem, some of the stern-post, re-planking below the waterline, the sheer plank, covering boards, toe-rail cabin-sides, cockpit, hatches... Then some painting and varnishing after some heavy sanding....
Doesn't sound too bad if you say it quickly!

 

Scary pics of the bilge!

 Starboard planking of keel! All has to go - a real mess!

Oscar was a little shocked by my list, but for some reason has faith in my ability to bring it home... In budget!

He did however make the stipulation that work would have to wait until the barn was finished. The barn is old and he hates working in the cold. So a new structure was built within the barn, insulated and weather tight. This also gave us new beams to lift the boat from the keel for replacing the hog.