After the storm

WoW weathered non-hurricane, non-tropical storm Sandy very nicely, as did the rest of ISM, including the ships.  During the night on Tuesday, the water rose as high as it ever has, stopping about a foot short of the shop floor level.    There are some sobering pictures of the ramp and queue at high tide (3:00 AM) on the ISM Facebook page.  WoW preparations for the storm included bringing the entire small boat fleet into the shop, and out of harm's way.  A few still remain, making things even more cozy than usual.

Boats moved indoors for the storm plus those being worked on make things tight.

Gradually, the fleet is being moved to the warehouse for the winter.  We'll see them again in a few months for spring maintenance.

Steve, Joe, and Carl prepare a Sharpie for its trip to winter quarters.

Meanwhile, work continued on the two main projects, the Beetle replica whaleboat and the Lightning.  On the Lightning, the job of fastening bronze brackets to the centerboard case logs and the floors to strengthen that connection has been completed, and this makes the entire boat much more solid and seaworthy.  

Two of the new bronze brackets holding floors to centerboard case.  

Problem spots in the chines, where rot has gained a foothold are being addressed as well, with the two Jeffs removing bad wood and replacing it with the good stuff.

A rotten frame and chine section removed, soon to be replaced.

On the whaleboat, the neverending story of the ceiling is coming closer to its conclusion.  Newt leads his army of volunteers (volunteer army?) in milling, spiling, and installing ceiling boards.   We are down to the last two planks on each side, finally.

Steve adjusts a frame to accept a centerline section of ceiling.

Patterns for the various whaleboat oars await.  The oars are many and massive.

A few odds and ends projects are also getting done.  Bruce worked on some very sharp looking cleats, and Steve installed a new handle on an old bilge pump, which has done yeoman service of late.

A wooden cleat takes shape.

Steve repairs one of the ISM fleet's bilge pumps.