Each new job that comes from the shop has it's own particular challenges and changes the atmosphere and feeling of the shop. It may seem simple but with the coming and going of each boat we adapt to the particular needs of each job. We arrange and rearrange equipment, set up new staging and adapt our surroundings to the task at hand. With Marionette in the shop, I felt much smaller in stature than normal. She draws 7 feet and her spacious interior was almost overwhelming and the amount of light inside the cabin was startling.
This Kettenburg 50 lived for many years in Los Angeles near where she was built. During this time she was attacked by termites who made a mash out of the cockpit area. Work completed during this phase of her time in the shop included new teak cockpit deck, new sepelle coamings, repair of a rotten house side, and the removal and replacement of the cockpit sides and rotten hatches. The termites had eaten across the under the cockpit and had compromised the framing that supports the rudder!
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| All 5 Photos above by David Whitaker |
We were lucky and happy to have David Whitaker as guest carpenter on this job. He worked away steadily and took some very nice process pictures. The Maritime Northwest climate gave him a cool respite from the drought of the central states.
Marionette is the largest sailboat we've had in the covered area. She stuck out of the tent with mast still stepped although with the rig slackened. This set up is in the lee of the prevailing wind but with gusts over 50 knots occurring during this work period, we were glad for the large section of the mast and the extra boat stands in place below the hull.
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| Pattern of the cockpit perimeter |
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| Teak all laid out |
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| Vacuum Pump in action |
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| Deck Complete |
Every once in a while a job brings the opportunity to be awed by the magnificence of a special piece of wood. This time it was a live edged 2"x 24'x 22' boule, 142 board feet of sepelle! All I could think was magnificent dining room table in a grand hall or my own small dining area! The depth of figure in this wood is mesmerizing when finished.
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| Ping Pong paddle for scale |
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| Detail of coamings, sappelle resawn and matched, each side. |
Marionette was purchased in California and came up the coast on her own power. She was sailed around the San Juan Islands this summer and finished that part of her trip at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival before coming to Anacortes for the cock pit work. When the work was completed, James, Pat, and Andy returned her home to Port Ludlow by way of Port Townsend.
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| Example of the improvement. Photo, David Whitaker |
We expect to see Marionette again this year for further work including painting, sistering a few cracked frames, etc.... All part of the vessel's maintenance and up grade program.
