Posted by David Bamford on April 02, 2002 at -1:33:56 from 203.10.110.133:
In Reply to: Lubberly Crews, Forbidden Words and other Opium Plant Male Hen posted by Andy Morley on April 01, 2002 at 19:27:54:
Scarphing of ribs and frames [ribs are steam-bent, frames are grown or sawn to shape and of larger section] is a normal way of repairing a cracked rib. It avoids having to take up the deck of a decked boat to reach the upper end of the rib to remove it. Similarly, it avoids having to remove the garboard [the plank next to the keel] in order to remove the bottome end of the broken rib. A common short-term fix is to fasten another rib [a "sister"] alongside the broken rib and spanning the break by a goodly distance. This then transfers the stresses to the ends of the sister, causing later breaks at these points if the stresses continue to be applied. Scarphing a section into the original rib means that the original fastening holes can be reused, eliminating yet another row of holes which will weaken the planks.