Rotten Luck

I was checking the Black Sheep today and found more rot. I was moving it on its trailer and the end of the sternpost broke off in my hand. This is a 4x4 so I should not be able to break it with my bare hands.

I've had other problems with this post but I had hoped that I had managed to dig out all of the rot and fill it in with wood and epoxy. I'm not sure if I missed some rot or if it is continuing to rot.

I probably need to cut the whole post out and replace it. This scares me since it is a major structural piece.

Drought and boats

The long dry spell is hard on wooden boats. Normally I can swell the seams of my Whitehall in the spring and it is fine as long as it is in the water every few weeks. This year the seams keep opening up. I feel like I'm starting from scratch for the third time this year.

The heat doesn't help. We've had more days above 90 and above 100 than any year since 1955 and little wind. That's too hot to row around.