Sea worms have eaten away the plywood skin of the hull, exposing the flotation to damage, and slowing
the raft's speed
through the water. |
Wood for re-skinning the hulls has to be carried across the river that separates our location from the road. |
Louis, Ed and Louis's son, Alex, roll the heavy barrel of fibreglass resin out of the river to the raft. |
Ed and Louis build a shelter to protect the repair work
from the rain. |
Arnaldo, another of Louis's sons, steadies the long ladder. |
Hervick prepares a hull to receive its plywood skin replacement. |
Elmer Jr. eases the new wood into the old. |
One side of the first hull showing the fibreglassed wood. |
Ed trains Elmer on fibreglassing the bow point. |
Louis, in full protective gear, sands the fibreglass matt around the portholes. |
Ed shows Elmer and David how to ease the fibreglass matting into awkward corners. |
Time to re-step
the mast. |
The full team of the boat building school sign their names on the hull - from left to right, Ed, Louis, David, Hervick and Elmer Jr. |
The Absolute Absolution restored to her former glory,
and more! |
Three of Louis's boys prepare for
a fishing trip. |
View of Lago Izabal from the raft. |