We had an unfortunate encounter with a rock in Canada in August of 2018.  Like many unfortunate occurrences, a number of mistakes, mishaps, and miscalculations occurred (mostly related to dependence on electronics, distractions, lack of local knowledge, and miscalculations).  As a result, we (1) fixed some navigation problems, (2) became much more adamant about people leaving the pilothouse during stressful navigation, and (3) fixed a worn-out 80-year old repair.  

Some history is important here.  In 1943, our boat was in Alaska, and found the bottom near the vicinity of ShipRock, which is a bar near Kanaga Island, AK. There was damage to the stem, and the boat was hauled and repaired by the local US Navy yard.

Here’s the detail from the Deck Log (National Archives):

• 27  July 1943: Hit bottom vicinity of ShipRock.  ShipRock is a bar near (NE of) Bridge Point, Kanaga Island, AK
• 29 July 1943: Crew attempts repairs to hull, but bilges continued to fill with seawater.
• 30-31 july 1943: A USNavy party boards to inspect/repair hull (JD Stinsfield)
• 18 August 1943: in dry dock, secure alongside YP-88

So we headed over to Haven Boatworks to get started:

 

                                Interesting things discovered during the repair:  

This repair has always been problematic (see blog entitled Haul Out 2014 – a photo of a coathanger passing from port to starboard behind stem).  Bad news good news: Bad news: we redamaged the repair which we had patched numerous times. Good news: the damage was sufficient to do a real repair.  So, we headed to Port Townsend and pulled out on October 1 for the repair, which involved a replacement of the 1942 repair and part of a new stem iron. Blaise Holly oversaw the project, and as always, he was fantastic.   

Things we learned:

1. A family of rats had lived in the focsle in the distant past.  Their petrified remains were removed.  
2. The material used by the USN did not compare to that used by Sagstad.  The very long bolts in the stem installed by Sagstad were Monel steel, and those of the USN were plain steel.  The Monel bolts looked brand new. The USN steel bolts were almost rusted through.  

Here are several more photos of the stem repair:

 

Finally it was time to leave PT.  We grabbed a bit of the scrap purple heart that was being used for firewood. 

 

Finally the finishing touches and launch

 

 

It was good to be back in the water and underway.