Slow Burn

So I'm sitting here feeling all crappy, and suddenly out of nowhere an image pops into my head.

I go rifling through the pile of bits classified under "Crap that is probably crap but I suspect may in fact not be crap" and pull out this randomly shaped piece of trim.

Down to the port side head, into the big locker and up around where the steering cables turn to run aft. Bingo! Only five years to work that one out.

Before

After.

Great. Now I have to paint it.

The 80/20 Rule

Being that the last 20% of the job always seems to take 80% of the total effort.

All the hardware, tracks, and bits and bobs have made stripping the old varnish off a total PITA. Probably got another 3-4 hours of work before it's ready to start varnishing. But I'm feeling sick and fed up, so will have to wait a bit. Which of course means I will have to wait even longer before I finally get to go for a sail this summer. But sometimes you've just got to stop and take a breath.

I just want to go sailing...

Making some progress on the mast. Have pretty much finished the first repair, and today we pulled off the gooseneck and cut out the rot around there. Thankfully it turned out to be even more localised than the first patch, and appears to have been a result of sealant failing where a packing block mated to the mast, letting water in and pooling.

A big thank you to Darryn Currill for his helping hand!

Rot cut out. Only surface rot (about 5 mm) for most of it, but directly alongside the adjacent stave it went deeper - about 25 mm. The glue line largely stopped the rot from spreading to the next stave, except up the very top.

Initial shaped packers filling the deeper cut-outs, gluing in place. May have overdone the glue...

We then cut back into the blocks again and fitted some nicely shaped dress pieces to create a dutchman repair. Note the strip that has paint on the face - all the timber for the repairs is coming from the old starboard upper spreader that we replaced.

Shaped and almost done. Plugging holes left behind from retaining screws. Soon be ready for final sand and varnish.

The rot at the goose-neck is a simple fix, other than having to under-cut past a stainless steel strap that holds the sail-track to the mast. I plan to fix it with two blocks inserted top and bottom.  It's mostly covered by the packing block that I am also having to fix up as one corner needs to be cut out and replaced.

Cutting out rot at gooseneck. It went up under the stainless strap, but not far, so thankfully I don't have to pull the entire track assembly off - that would be a major!

In other projects, I'm progressing the conversion of the old crew head to a sail locker. Have re-routed all the wiring, removed the washbasin, and turned the space left behind into an access hatch for the locker under. I cut out the lid from one of the locker doors that I removed. I've made a new headliner panel, and this week hopefully will make up the hull liner for above the bench and generally get things to a point where it is usable; painting etc will have to wait until after Christmas, as we are running out of time!

Matching 50's vintage formica.

Message In a Bottle

From the old crew head:

I'm fine, David. How are you?

Demolition Man

Been meaning to turn the old crew head into a proper sail locker forever. Bugger it - let's do it!

Starting to pull things apart.

Demolition near complete.

The plan is to convert the sink space into another storage bin, line the hull, and extend the headliner so it's just one big space. It's  added a lot of open space - good for another two or three sails.  :-)

I started today on repairing one of the two patches of rot I found on the main mast. The good news is it's not that bad. I have it all cut out, and replacement blocks gluing in place. I'll post some pics when it's all done.

The Work Never Ends

Continuing right along... First up, finishing the master stateroom.

Port side master stateroom bulkhead. Chopped up when they ran the exhaust through. Now you see it...

...now you don't.

I managed to raise the main exhaust by 30 mm, as it was sitting fairly loose in the hangers. That will make all the difference in creating the clearance for rebuilding the storage shelf in the new bulkhead. The plan is to make up the new unit this week in the evenings at work, and with a small amount of luck I'll be able to install next weekend.

I've also (finally!) installed a salt water deck wash. The current deck outlets are fresh water; very extravagant.

Pump installed in locker in the sail locker.

I have made use of the disused through-hull in the sail locker (formerly the crew's head) that used to be the toilet discharge. I've hooked up a washdown pump and connected it to the existing plumbing that was formerly a fresh water line. Works great.

And We're Back

Hauled yesterday at 4pm, and went back in the drink at 8am this morning, after a pretty late night, followed by very early morning painting on antifoul. Not a drop in sight. Yay.

The timber around the area has degraded further, and really the planking needs to be replaced in that spot. Should have been done in California, but I can also see why it was skipped, as it's a highly localised patch, the plank is sound except in one small spot. We've patched her up, but on our next haul-out we will schedule a boat builder to pull and replace the plank - not something I feel quite up to doing myself as of yet!

Kamalii asleep in a hammock.