Excellent progress. And good decision on the tank.

Progress continues, although today was less progress than I wanted. I'll get to that.

First - This was the best tool for removing all the foam. This Fiskars shovel is all steel and STOUT. I originally bought this last spring to lay the low voltage cable for my landscape lighting. It has fantastic prying capacity. I went from taking baseball and softball size chunks out with the ice chipper and floor scraper, to taking out pumpkin sized chunks. Wish I had remembered this puppy sooner!

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...QgJnT6VC6AL7iL

Since I determined all the stringers needed to be replaced I had to shore up the hull to prevent deformation. First it came off the trailer and supported by concrete blocks and cribbing, then I braced under the strakes which fall directly under most of the stringers.

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...Wq5punNfGGBVZo

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...3iSeIAxn30Kavy

It's simply a pair of 12' 2x4 sistered together with 2x4 uprights cut to length to rest atop a handful of 2x6 PT I had left in my lumber stock. The beam did have a split for an angle change - I matched the hull's form as closely as I could.

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...okyv-MJ8E2C2KN

With the hull braced it was into the bunny suit to begin cutting the crap out.

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...qnQGYpwlbeRnb5

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...hW0uiZ3mIhvYB6

The transom is a little wetter here than it was when the skin came off - I had just hosed down the area when I took this photo:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...1zwMUkGHhfjxuU

Here the hull is all cleaned. I am leaving the forward bulkhead and 2 short stringers for the moment. I haven't made a complete call on those yet - they are sound although...moist. I will probably remove but for the moment I wanted to keep a little form to the hull.

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...rXjiqQCYDAQRYI

Transom skin peeled off relatively easy:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...GdGTNhmKElUAsp

The port side stringer shell and all the bulkheads with their mushy rotten fly attracting cores:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...iXyrAo6-2w3_b8

I should have tested my respirator seal - I balked at shaving my beard. As a result today I have been coughing and sneezing like mad. Ordered a full face respirator and shaved off my beard. Today sucked and I didn't get much done aside from flaking the rest of the plywood off the transom down to where I will have to grind the remainder.

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...IPHmfDxQKTIT3h

But I did get all my plywood. 5 sheets of 3/4" MDO Plywood and 3 sheets of 1/2" MDO Plywood - a $500 trip to Menards. But I am impressed with the quality of this stuff. They had Marine on the shelf for another $10 a sheet but it looked rather wavy so I stuck with my original plan to use the MDO.

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...sgT0Nmke7whxva

Tomorrow I'll putz around with some low impact stuff like color matching my gelcoat and putting together a list of all the hardware I need to start thinking about ordering. Respirator is coming by 9pm tomorrow along with a new batch of Tyvek suits - love how they always tear out in the crotch...the absolute last place I want to have the FG itch manifest...

DAMN it feels GOOD to start seeing the constructive side of this project and not just the destructive! Started on the ply sections for the transom today:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...srhOQwSaKsoi3w

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...PUFW3XP0ItWuWW

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...nLE0dZx3HNCoCh

Once those were out of the way I prepped my stringer stock - I'm sawtooth joining like Slightly Twisted showed in his thread.

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...M68siExUKL-1IX

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...pnQg_Q3Zs6cbD6

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...aYyAlDsLsZizDE

Peanut butter joints on the stringers are setting up overnight. Tomorrow it's back to grinding to get the rest of the stringer and bulkhead locations cleaned up. My second batch of grinding discs arrived this afternoon. After the grinding is done and I've washed the whole works down I'll set the first layer of the transom - hopefully tomorrow afternoon but Sunday morning most likely.

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:No words needed..

Nice job

I was watching Florida Sportsman Project Dreamboat on YouTube. This guy was rebuilding a 261 Mako and put a wood transom back in. He left out small section of wood around the drain hole. Said most failures start there and it doesn t do much structurally.

Funny you should mention that phatdaddy. I have been unhappy with how much offset there is between the drain hole and the keel as I've been spraying down the dust to save my shop vac, so my plan has been to redrill that more flush with the bilge, and when I do I plan to oversize it and pack the perimeter with a slurry of chopped strand and epoxy.

Today's post is light on pics as my hands were gloved and mixing/spreading thickened epoxy today. But I finished up all the grinding yesterday and today set to placing the first layer of the transom:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=d...Y7XU6YLKErOIOR

I think I'll grab some larger mixing tubs from Home Depot on the way home from work tomorrow. Mixing up the thickened epoxy in quart size tubs is a chore. It takes a lot more material than I anticipated to thicken up a batch. Time to do some math and see if I have enough Cabosil and milled fiber to do all the peanut buttering I have left to do.

Also need to order another 20 grinding discs to cover the grinding I'll have to do on the sole as well. For anyone embarking on a similar project a word of advice - don't think that 24 grit is too aggressive like I did before starting. After grinding out the hull, if there was a lower grit I'd jump on it. I went through 20 discs and I was pushing thru with discs that should have been swapped out much sooner. If I had 40 to do the hull grinding I would have used them all and had no regrets. This isn't a cheap endeavour and just like FG and resin, grinding discs are not a place to skimp if you enjoy your sanity.

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch...isc-67642.html

Have you tried this style

That's the style I'm using. These specifically:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GHY5G3S

Damn you’re moving along fast! Nice job! :clap: