You may recall a couple of days ago I discovered the two missing porthole openings in the back cabin that had been filled in as part of Ben Harp’s efforts to disguise the boat. This morning I decided to remove all the spray foam from the inside of these two portholes.
To my surprise I discovered a circular piece of steel plate hadn’t been welded into each hole. Instead there was a lip around the hole.
That’s when I realised a whole new section of plate steel has been overlayed into the recessed panel on the exterior of the boat. There’s a 2mm gap between the two sheets and faint traces of the exterior red paint can be seen.
So the question now is; did Ben Harp weld these two sheets into the recess of the exterior panel? He’s a poor welder, and was in a hurry, so my guess is the additional sheet steel has been glued onto the exterior of the boat. The edges have then been filled and the entire area given a coat (or two) of paint.
I will know for certain when Waiouru is grit blasted in a couple of weeks. If; as I suspect; the sheets are glued, then we will have to work out a way of removing them without damaging or deforming the original underlying steel plate.
No comments :
Post a Comment