The last voyage of the Edith E

May be soon. Sad to say, but as we've dug deeper into the structure of the good ship Edith E we've found some very bad structural failures. She was originally fastened with square-cut iron nails and those seem to be failing and causing leaks and 'iron-sickness' in the frames and planking. While we can fix the worst of the leaks with some inventive methods, the problem is endemic, and we don't have the time/resources/interest in refastening the entire hull, and reframing half of it. The Edith E is on her way out. She lasted well for nearly 70 years (probably far longer than her builders ever envisioned) but at some point all good things must come to an end. Our current plan is to haul her out in the next month and begin stripping her for parts for the next boat. As some of her planking is still good I'll be salvaging as much of the wood as possible. She was built with full runs of Port Orford Cedar (no butt-blocks) which are probably almost 34' in length. Boat #2 will likely be steel given our plans for river cleanup, and the need for a simple, tough, easily repairable boat. We have some candidates, but I doubt that any will be as charming or as classic as the Edith E. I'm torn between being emotionally attached, and realizing that 70 years is a looooong life for a workboat of any type, especially wood. As they say, we'll always have the memories.