Straightening Up

Twisting of the hull from rough water torques the frame joints, leveraging the screws at the topside/bottom frame "knee" joint, causing them to loosen.  And as the bottom planks swell, they expand and push the chines outward from the frame landings, taking the topside frames with them.  Notice the 4 screws of this frame station are loose, the bottom one backing out quite a bit.

The seasonal swell/shrink cycles of the bottom planks works the frames and brass screws at the knee joint back and forth, elongating the screw hole in the frame or breaking the screw.   The chines are attached to the topside frames with a ¼”-20 carriage bolt and a screw at main frames.  The chines are attached only with a screw at the intermediate frames.  Bottom swelling, pushing on the chines, will pull the screw from the wood at the intermediate frames, or break the screw, creating a gap.

When the boat was built, these intermediate frame joints were tight against the chine.  The restoration process must bring the chine and frame back into alignment.  Over time, this spreading of the bottom planks causes leaking, structural weaknesses and failure of components.  After getting the boat leveled and blocked, it is time to pull the topside frames back into position for bracing.  Using pipe clamps at the topside frame, the clamp is hooked to the bilge stringer and tightened until the intermediate frame is tight against the chine.

With the joints tight, 1”x4” pine braces are screwed to the topside frames  below the knee to hold the frames in position.  With the all joints tight, we reconfirmed the chines were still level.  With everything set, the keel and chines were removed in preparation for frame inspection and replacement.

On The Level

With the bottom planks off, we are ready to get the boat setup and level.  Using 2 floor jacks, first the rear, then the front dollies were jacked up and the sawhorses assembled.

Crawling under the covering boards, it was tight quarters to assemble the sawhorses.

Setup on the adjustable sawhorses, we removed the bottom plank battens and the topside chine planks.  Then we began to level the chines port to starboard, first at the sawhorses and then each frame.  Using a 6’ level with equal length spacer blocks, the wedges under the support of the sawhorse where adjusted.

Next, we added supports about the perimeter to support and adjust the twist in the framework.  Cinder blocks, 2-2”x6” blocks, foam rubber and wedges are setup to lift frame stations into level.

Finally, the line projecting laser level was used to bring each frame station level port to starboard.   The wedges between the 2”x6” blocks were adjusted to raise the low side at the major frame stations until each was level.

A final check to confirm the sawhorses were still supporting the bilge stringers and all stations were level, the wedges were super glued to prevent them from moving.

Now we can begin pulling the framework back into shape.

Bottom Removal

With the boat on the dollies, we began removing the putty from the bottom for removal of the planks.

The putty was drilled out using a modified a 5/16” wood spade bit.  The bit removes the putty to the screw top and, most of the time, the small tip would find the slot of the slotted screws.

For the few screws forward, above the waterline, the factory installed wood bungs.  We used a scribe to split the bung and pop the bung free.  With all of the screws exposed it’s time for the screw gun.  Most of the screws came out easy, except for the few broken or striped ones.

At some point, a previous owner installed 5200 rubber in the gaps between planks in an attempt to slow leaking.  This is not a good idea on original planking because with each swelling cycle the plank no longer has room to move and pushes the chines out of the frame landings and can cause the planks to cup.  The planks came off easy after cutting the 5200 in the gaps and a little prying at the striped or broken screw locations.

Several hours later, we have a lot of brass screws to recycle.

Bottom Inspection



With the Resorter bottoms up, we were able to take a closer look at the bottom condition.  There are several cracked planks and some hairline fractures mid-width of the plank.  In addition to the joints leaking, these cracks and fractures also allowed water in.  For 61-year-old wood, it is pretty brittle and lifeless. 

There is also a repair area on the starboard garboard plank adjacent the strut and rudder shaft.  There is an oak-backing block with steel screws from both the top and bottom.

On the opposite side, there is a hard, gray filler material over the plank, keel and a portion of the adjacent plank.

Digging out the material revealed a deep, straight, athwartships gouge in the plank, and some broken pieces on the edge.  It looks like there was a prop blade strike, maybe a broken blade?

After removing the backing block, it was determined the plank is fractured.  It is not broken completely thru but is very weak without the backing block.

Rolling Over

Now that we are ready to roll the Resorter over, what are we waiting for?  On Christmas Day, with family able to help, we tried turning the boat over.  Unfortunately, the lift straps wanted to walk off the rollers.

So we set the boat back onto the cradle and tried several different ideas to solve the problem, but none worked.  Finally, we decided the rollers needed the shoulder machined off, so we sent them off with my dad for modification.  Lights out for now.

On the following Sunday, with a few more bodies to help with the roll, we tried again with the adjusted rollers.

Up went the chain hoists, out went the cradle and slowly we started turning the boat. 

And still, the straps tried to walk off the rollers.  But, this time with the extra help we simply lifted the boat, re-positioned the straps and continued on.  Checking for clearance with the garage floor as we neared vertical, a little higher with the hoists was all that was needed.

Pulling the port side under, and stopping a couple of times to adjust the straps, we finally had the boat upside down.



Holding the boat to prevent it from trying to right itself, we lowered it onto some dollies with high density foam padding, and started breaking down the lift rig.

Here is a time-lapse video showing the successful flip.

Thank you to everyone who helped build the flip rig and work thru getting the Resorter on her back.  Now it is time to get the bottom planks off to start frame repairs.

Heavy Lifting

We have been working on the lifting rig to facilitate flipping the boat over.  Using some ideas from several other boat restorers, we made two wooden frames for lifting the boat for flipping.  Using doubled 2x4s and single 2x6s for headers, we bolted the frames together.



Four inch wide, thirty foot long recovery straps were ordered.  We also fabricated two rollers to hang from chain hoists to loop the straps through.  The keel rollers were turned in a lathe to remove the angled shoulder and allow the strap to run flat on the roller.

Our 18 year-old daughter helped setup the lifting rig.  We used the rafters in the garage as additional support, clamping the vertical supports to the rafter.

With everything setup, we are now ready to turn the Resorter over to begin work on the bottom.

Here is a time-lapse video of the building and setup of the lift rig.

Lower Transom

While waiting on some parts to complete the flip over rig, we decided to remove the lower transom plank.  We have known for quite a while the lower transom bow has delaminated, and were expecting a little rot in this area. Inspection of the port cheek area from inside the boat did not look bad.

The worst area of delamination of the transom bow is starboard, between the keel and engine stringer.  Most of the black areas are buildup of grease and dirt.

Exterior inspection was a little different.  Under the transom guard are some attempts to repair or at least slow the leaking.  This was the first indicator there may be more trouble than initially thought.  It is difficult to see in the photo, but the lower transom plank is pushed out of position about a quarter of inch at the bottom.  In addition, the topside plank has a substantial gap at the seam.

So we dug out all of the putty and bungs covering the screws to remove the lower transom plank.  A few extra screws were added at some point in her life to the port cheek area in an attempt to “stabilize” the area.  There were about 10 screws that did not back out, they just spun.

With the plank off, we got our first view into the actual work needed to make the boat safe again for use.

The transom bow and cheek are quite rotted, more than the internal visual inspection had revealed.  These hidden areas need thorough inspection and poking with an ice pick to reveal rot, especially when you are looking to purchase a boat.



It looks like we will be purchasing a little more white oak for frame repairs than originally anticipated.