An Ode to Corrosion: The Hull

Good steel under the rust: Hawaiian Chieftain during sandblasting.

"Mighty ships upon the ocean
Suffer from sever corrosion.
Even those that stay at dockside
Are rapidly becoming oxide.
Alas, that piling in the sea
Is mostly Fe₂O₃.
And when the ocean meets the shore,
You’ll find there’s Fe₂O₄.
Cause when the wind is salt and gusty
Things are getting awfully rusty."

~ T.R.B. Watson

It has been over two years since our last update. Sorry for the radio silence, but we’ve been busy. Let’s catch you all up!

After all of our surveying and inspecting was complete, we determined that poor Chieftain was awfully rusty, and needed significant repairs to her hull. (She also needed new engines, a new electrical system, new tanks, new plumbing, a new galley - since we had to gut the old one to get to the deck that needed replaced under the sole, a new mainmast, a new jib-boom, new topmasts and probably other new things we hadn’t yet discovered . . . but back to the rust.) 

A member of the PTSC crew grinding out a section of the hull near the starboard bow.

Inside the building for sandblasting and painting.

Over ten percent of the the hull was cropped and replaced - meaning old steel cut out, and new steel welded in - the corrosion was so severe. The entire deck (which was steel) under the galley sole (which was wood) was replaced, as were significant portions of the donkey house, deck furniture, catheads, stanchions, and chainplates.

Before and after: the steel deck under the galley floorboards.

Old and new catheads.

Once the steelwork was complete, the entire hull was sandblasted, primed and painted. She moved out of the building a few weeks ago, so if if you’re in the neighborhood, feel free to swing by and check out her new colors!

Hawaiian Chieftain in her fancy new duds!

Stay tuned, friends. Next time, an update on rigging - and I promise it’s not two years out! Aloha!