Archeology on Board

With the amount of demolition we’ve been doing, I swear we’ve earned an archeology degree by now. (Any archaeologists, I am completely kidding. I have deep respect for your work and expertise. This is a tongue-in-cheek post!)

Our boat was built in 1976 by the Sam L. Morse company, a couple of years before the yard was finishing out interiors. Rip and Penelope Jane (Zhan-EY), the original owners, took her to a place in San Diego called Bill Clark Custom Yachts for the finish work.

Sam Morse has a reputation for overbuilding boats. After removing a fair amount of the interior of Calypso, I can safely say that Bill Clark Custom Yachts was absolutely of the same mindset.

There are bungs over fasteners that are HIDDEN BEHIND BULKHEADS. There is fiberglass mat roving (not just tape) holding in non-structural bulkheads. There is cork hull lining (whether this is a good idea or not is up to your interpretation) in the smallest of lockers - that are underneath the floor behind the stove.

When we bought the boat, she had an icebox. A large, cavernous, ice box. Not a fridge. We put in a fridge and built the box inside the existing icebox.

Today, that icebox came out.

Jeremy is sitting (to his knee) in the old icebox, which extended into the lazarette.

In the excavation, we found all the original insulation that had been installed for that beyond-huge ice box (remember, it needed to hold POUNDS of ice as well as the food!).

In an era when often 2 inches of insulation was a luxury, Bill Clark put 4” of insulation all around that box.

Today, we pulled it all out.

Old foam insulation (that sandy, dirty looking stuff) on the left.

All told, in the past couple of months we’ve removed tiled counters, the stove, countless pieces of plywood bulkhead and the attending fasteners and fiberglass, the sink, and the entire fresh water manifold system and hoses. Our galley is to starboard - the batteries are to port.

Any wonder we’re listing to port?