Repairing a Section of Rotted Stem 1914 Palmer Launch ROXANNE 4 23 14

Описание: We've made major progress on our 1914 Palmer Launch, Roxanne since we last reported to you. The new keel section, complete with its new custom-fabricated shaft log and packing box are in place. All of the new ribs have been fabricated, bent and await final installation.
The topsides have been sanded, their seams cotton caulked and primed, and the first coat of Interlux Seam Compound has been paid into the seams. I will be applying the first coat of Interlux Prime Kote to the topsides today, after which a second pass will be made with the Seam Compound.
However, a chunk of the stem actually broke loose gratuitously yesterday while I was sanding the topsides and stem with 80 grit paper on one of our pneumatic long boards. It was obvious that we had found the source of an observation made by her owners early on in the project, "I climbed into the foredeck area trying to find the source of what sounded like rushing water when we first launched Roxanne. What I found wad a stream of water, not unlike what comes out of a garden hose, rushing into the boat."
A hose-like situation it was for sure as one of the previous "restorers" who had at Roxanne must have extracted a carriage bolt that fastened one section of the stem to the frame. From what we found, it appears that large amounts of 3M 5200 were pumped into the almost surely already- rotting wood around the bolt channel. Well, he/she actually created a water trap that was hauntingly similar to the one we found at the aft end of Roxanne. What we found was a passageway port of the bore hole into which John was able to insert his forefinger.
We hoped we could "just" remove the rot around the channel, seal it through and through with Total Boat Thixo thickened epoxy, bore new bolt channels and button everything up, but it was not to be.
As you will see in this video, the rot began at the joint between the stem and the gripe, and extended upwards for over a foot.
Additionally, we also answered another question, "Why are the forward ends of the topside planks standing almost ¼" proud of their intersection with the stem?" Why? Because whoever worked on the stem failed to re-fasten the leading ends of the topside planks to the stem! Honest. What we found is failed 3M 5200, but no fasteners of any sort.
John fabricated a pattern that we are using to fabricate a laminated section of the stem, one that, when secured with new silicon bronze carriage bolts and Thixo, will produce a virtually continuous Dutchman -- the largest we've fabricated to date -- that will render Roxanne's stem and bow watertight for decades to come.
Oh, yes, we will also fasten those topside and below-waterline planks to the stem with a combination of 3M 5200 and appropriate Frearson silicon bronze wood screws.