The top end of a transverse floor timber where it meets the lower futtock in a traditional wooden hull. This joint forms a critical transition point in the framing, shifting the structural curve from the flat bottom of the bilge up toward the vertical sides of the hull. Shipwrights stagger these joints to prevent creating a weak line along the vessel's length.
Heard on the job
The rot goes right down past the first futtock and into the runghead, so we'll have to replace the whole floor timber.