The plan for replanking Mahdee called for all planking above the waterline to be replanked and "some" below the waterline to be replanked. Since we'd never worked on a wood hulled boat like this before, we had no clue of which planks should be kept and which were to be gotten rid of. The yard shipwright explained that clearly when the wood was punky and couldn't hold a fastener, it should be replaced. Unfortunately, the shipwright was always too busy with other boatyard projects to mark the "keepers" on Mahdee. So, we worked at it based on the "if it isn't punky, keep it" theory. The "keeper planks" below the waterline had to have the old iron nails removed and the holes pin-point plugged in the fall of 2006 so that new silicon bronze screw fasteners could be used during the re-framing process.

In the top picture at the left, David and John stare (is it in wonder or dread?) at the load of mahogany that will become Mahdee's new planking.

Above left: One of the piles of African Mahogany (Sapele) ready for Mahdee's planking.
Above middle: A picture looking up through the ribbands and frames as the spiling starts for the new planks.
Above right: The sawn frames on the port side were "overfaired" at one point by a frustrated yard carpenter. Later John placed spacers on the clamp to push the sawn frames outboard to the correct position and then laminated shims to the frames to bring the shape of the bow back to fair for the planking to be done.
Below from left to right: John pulls out a bit of wood for making templates for spiling work; David eyes a pile of oak butt blocks for replacing the ones on the "keeper planks"; a shot of Mahdee's bow before planking; and the first planks go onto Mahdee. John is working on the port side, a yard carpenter is working on the starborad side.

More Planking Pictures...

Above from Left to Right: the first two planks John hung--they were on Mahdee's starboard side; John then moved over to the port side to work while a yard carpenter takes on the starboard side; here the yard carpenter is spiling the next plank on the starboard side; the joint for this plank is a scarfed joint between the old douglas fir and a niew douglas fir plank--you can see the old fir cut ready for the scarf.