Head almost done

I finished the bulkheads for the head today. We are going to try something to see how well it works in the long run. A friend of mine owns a cabinet shop and I have been using his stuff to do a bunch of the woodwork. He brought up the idea to paint the walls in acrylic lacquer to finish the wood off. I have to admit the plywood looks extremely good.

 A quick update. Head is almost done, pictures were taken but I left the camera on the boat. Heading down tomorrow to do some more work, and i will grab the camera to update the blog.

Whew!!

I did a bunch of sewing with a Sailrite LSZ sewing machine that I borrowed from a friend. I made a new pedestal cover, 3 new winch covers and replaced the sacrificial cover on our headsail. Pictures soon. I see why they charge so much for replacing the sacrificial on headsails. What a pain, but a very rewarding job. I can't wait to get the new stuff on the boat to see the difference. Later this summer, we plan on making a new bimini and jiffy reefing cover.

The head is completely pulled apart. Whoever set the old toilet, secured it to the sole with galvanized lag bolts and they within months of breaking free. The old wallpaper that was in the head is gone and we were at first going to use a acrylic type laminate on the walls that I had laying around, but I don't think it will hold up to regular use. I think we are going to end up using a counter top style laminate from Lowe's or other hardware store.

The bottom job and deck are going to have to wait until spring. They are draining our lake to winter levels and hauling out is impossible due to low water levels. I will get some good pictures this week to show the improvements.

Change in Plans

Work is still continuing on the interior woodwork until I can get the boat hauled out for a bottom job and to split the deck to replace rotten balsa wood.

If you can see the delamination of the balsa in these pictures. I will get better pictures when we haul her out

The bigger news is plans to head to the Gulf of Mexico are on hold until retirement in about 13 years. Looking at the big picture, financially it is the better choice for us. This winter is when the major renovations are going to start (bottom and deck) and I will try to go into fine detail when it comes time for anyone else to have to follow in our footpaths. I will post some pictures here later this week when I can get a chance.

....and continues...

The plans are still on to move us and the boat to the Gulf of Mexico next year. I am heading to the boat tomorrow to continue work on the head area. The plywood had rotted out over the years on the bulkheads. I have two of the bulkheads redone and will hopefully reinstall them this weekend. I also hope to get some decent pictures of the work, before and after, for the blog. I got the headsail webbing resewn back on this week. It's usable again!!! Last week when I took her out without it, she was soooo underpowered in the light winds we had on the lake.

The work continues....

I was able to get to the boat this weekend and shake the cobwebs off of her and take her out. The head sail is off of her, as I am trying to get the sacrificial cloth redone. After getting an estimate on getting the sacrificial redone, a small fortune, I have decided to do it myself. Thanks to our slip mate, who has the perfect sewing machine for the job, it should be a short process. I am still redoing the woodwork piece by piece. Hopefully this winter or the beginning of next year, the bottom job will be done, along with the delaminated decks.

Let the repairs begin

The heat has finally for all intents and purposes broken. I got a chance to get out to the boat and do some more work to her. I got the side decks painted with new non skid paint. I used Interlux's Interdeck. I really like the paint. It flows really nice and covers in two coats. The two areas that I still need to paint, are on hold because there is some work that needs to be done before the paint can go on. I hope to get that done later on this fall.

If you can tell by the last picture, I had to take the lifelines down on the port side of the boat. I had to remove a stanchion to get it re welded. The original weld broke at the base.The headsail has also been removed. I am working on getting a new sacrificail cover sewn on to it. I have to order the new material sometime this week.

The Perfect Boat Dog!

This is "Candy" our 11 year old Toy Pomeranian.  She is our little first mate and she loves being out on the water with the wind in her fur.