08/13/2026
August 12th update!!
Well it’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted anything about our progress. For one it’s been crazy hot. Also the last several days it’s been on and off raining. We’ve been working very hard and as quickly as we can. Unfortunately their is a lot more wooden planks that we have to change out due to damage caused by teredo navalis, which are a type of saltwater clam from what Google says but we’ve just always called them ship worms. They will seriously eat the wood and drill holes anywhere they can. It’s sad because the wood won’t be rotten or bad, but will have to be entirely replaced due to the holes in just random places. Nevertheless, I’m not backing down from the task at hand and will not feel any type of negative energy when it comes to facing some adversity. We’ve got the stern of the boat pretty much done and the starboard side from the halfway point (midship) back to the stern done. The reason behind it taking several weeks just for this progress was upon removing the planks we had to install new ribs, or “frames” that the new planks will fasten to. Wooden boats hold their integrity through the framing, ribbing and wood stansions that help hold everything together. We added new bolts to these to ensure maximum strength. You cannot take shortcuts or the quick way out when it comes to wooden planked boats. I was hoping it wasn’t gonna be a long dry dock session but when it comes to safety of friends and family and how much I’ve invested in this restoration we can’t take a chance on nothing short then doing the best of job we know how. I am still having to work during the week at my regular job and split my pto to be over at the boat working. The more we progress I’ll definitely take before and after pictures. I want to say thank you all again for buying from us and helping make this happen. With the cost of materials and lay over days this is becoming very expensive pretty quickly. I look forward to pressing on and getting back to fishing and seeing you all again. Y’all have a good evening, Caleb 💙🦐🌊
