Albert:
That "rusty lock thing" is called a "shackle". As you see, it is attached to a very heavy piece of metal that sticks up from the bilge. Its dimensions are such that it seems capable of holding the entire weight of the boat, say six tons, and its location, according to the drawing to which Bowdrie referred you, is just about where one would expect the Centre of Gravity of the completed hull (without rigging) to be. Furthermore, according to the drawing, there seems to be a
deck hatch immediately above it so located that the cable of a crane can be brought in through that
hatch in order to hoist the boat. If my surmise is right, the sticky-up piece of metal would then be integrally imbedded in the keel.
This is speculation on my part since I've never been to the
Dufour factory, but the "lock thing" may be a device used for hoisting the hull off the "hard" (the factory floor) and into the
water at the factory before fitting the
rigging. It would be perfectly reasonable for the factory to leave the shackle in the boat for possible future use.
As Sailing Harmonie said: The "white bits" that are in your way are an absolutely essential structural part of the boat's hull. They are called "floors". DO NOT CUT THEM!
I
recall when you came aboard last summer you confessed to being an absolute
novice. Let me compliment you on dealing with the problems of a fairly sophisticated and complex boat you said yourself you regretted
buying. You deserve even more credit for having come back to ask us questions to help you understand your boat. As a general
rule, before you "modify" anything, ask us, as you've done in this thread, about the advisability of doing it. There is a world of knowledge in this forum, and it's all yours for the asking :-)!
Do not despair at the amount of
work involved, there will be an end to the trials, but do also be sensible about how much
work you want to do both in terms of labour and in terms of dollars. Trying to make the bilge of a boat like yours look "factory new" is a mug's
game, and there is absolutely no practical need for it. Once the
deck sole — what a landsman would call "the floor" — is in place you won't see the bilge. And with occasional use of "bilge cleaner" (a super-dooper powerful dish
washing detergent) you won't smell it either :-)!
Tell us: What is that black tube (or cable or wire, perhaps?) that goes into the bilge in the first and last photographs? What does it attach to? And was there anything attached to that brown square plate in the top of the floors just aft of the shackle?
TrentePieds