Cutting the Hull Open | Steel Sailboat Restoration in Wrangell, Alaska

Another day grinding it out in this yacht life in the Wrangell, Alaska shipyard. We are here with our 80-foot, triple masted, steel schooner - Alaskan Gypsy. The time finally came to face it - cutting open the hull to remove a corroded section of plating under the head and water tank. Years of mystery fluid (you don't want to know what that was) and pooled up above the longitudinal supports and caused significant rust corrosion. This combined with the electrolysis attacking from outside made for some concern regarding the plate integrity in this area. In this video I crawl inside the boat to prep, measure, and fire up the plasma cutter, cut off wheels, and whatever other power tools I can get my hands on. It’s loud, gritty, and strangely satisfying — real slow-TV shipyard life from inside and outside the hull. In this episode: • preparing the work by removing the plywood floor • uncovering hidden corrosion behind stringers • wiring and testing the plasma cutter • cutting out the damaged hull section • beating on our steel hull with a hammer relentlessly • inspecting the steel and planning replacement plate Subscribe to follow the full Alaskan Gypsy rebuild — welding, sandblasting, painting, and life in the Wrangell shipyard as we restore her for new adventures on Alaska’s coast. Chapters 00:00 Intro – The Rust Problem 00:45 Inside the Hull Prep 02:00 Setting Up the Cutter 04:00 First Cut Through the Steel 06:00 Fire Watch & Safety Check 08:00 Inspecting the Removed Section 10:30 Next Steps – Replacement Plan #AlaskanGypsy #SteelBoat #BoatRestoration #ShipyardLife #SailboatRefit #BoatDIY #HullRepair #PlasmaCutting #WrangellAlaska