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i've ordered a 16' piece of lumber to make new garboards. i have enough of the old ones for a pattern. how do i cut it near the stem since there is some curvature? do i simply lay the old garboard on to the new piece and cut? do i somehow soak it? there is no way it is going to fit in my steam box! also, in danenberg's book, he uses dowls and epoxy to plug the nail holes where the planks meet the inner stem. has anyone done this? it seems to make a lot of sense since on this old wood there are four nail holes per plank on my '57 15' sea coaster. also, i ordered new mahogany for the shearstrakes. were these stained or simply varnished at the factory? appreciate any insight. thanks.

Lumber for garboards? Do you mean plywood? You can wrap it in towles and pour boiling water over it to make it bendable.

Shearstrake plywood is stained and varnished just like the transom, seats, windshield frame, dash, etc...

Plugging old nail and screw holes is a good idea.

Andreas

andreas, thank you. by the way, can you recommend a certain stain for the mahogany? being new to thompsons, i haven't a clue - boating by the seat of my pants! also, the transom has an area of what i call rot - 2" long by 1" wide. if i saw the old shearstrake, is there some way to use the saw dust to patch that area of the transom - some formula to mix it with something? it would be nice if the patch didn't show. appreciate any advice here too. thanks again... yes. i purchased plywood

I have had good luck with Z-Spar "Standard Mahogany" filler stain matching the old stain on Thompson of Peshtigo boats.

You need to remove the rotten wood and replace it with new wood. The rot is probably much more extensive than what you can see from the surface. The only way to determine the extent of the rot is to start removing the bad wood. Can you make a "dutchman" patch.

Andreas

thank you for the recommendation. and, yes i believe i can make a dutchman repair. didn't even think of doing that...