2022-09-04 More boat work, learning by doing and making mistakes, travel to Idaho to see family

More work on the boat.  Dean finished dewaxing the hull, sanded the bottom, and has put on two coats of new paint.   

It can be somewhat discouraging to do a couple of days of work, to end up with the finished product looking quite similar to what you started with.   

Had a blue bottom before, and still does.   

Work has progressed on the two thru hulls we wanted removed.  We suspected they were leaking, and we were right.  We did not tackle this job ourselves, and were happy we did not.  Patch was quite a bit bigger than expected, due to damage from leaking.

You can see two round holes, those were the leaking thru hulls.  You can see how large and how deep the grinding to fix.

Hole repair ready to sand and gel coat

First coat of gel coat on and drying.   The hulls are sanded and ready to paint

Kris worked on polishing all the stainless rigging on the mast.  It was a messy job, but she figured out a very stylish way of using a trash can to save staining her clothes.

Yes, that is a cut open trash can she is using as an apron.

Also did some touch up painting on mast

Mast on land, taped off and protected for touch up paint

Kris also worked on tracking down the corrosion issue on the starboard sail drive.  She found that the  boat electrical system was electrically connected to the sail drive - a big no no with underwater metals.

Kris is getting old, and the brain doesn't always work well, so we had a Volvo Penta mechanic come to the boat to take a look.  Kris followed his advice, after he looked at the engine.   Separated the sail drive from the engine, testing for electrical connection.

Engine on homemade hoists, to take weight off, so we can separate and move it.  Kris is in the back working.

After all the work - which was not needed in the end, the electrical connection was found.  Dean gets credit for the logic, Kris gets credit for the work.  Connection was running through our throttle controls, and a simple metal bracket was the culprit.  Fix took 10 minutes - finding it took 5 hours.

To get to the engine, had to move all the stuff from that cabin somewhere else.  We aren't' using the boat shower, so it became a storage room.

Dean painted the Bimini top.  Every time we walked on it, we were getting white feet, from the oxidized paint coming off.   In the photo, the right side is painted, and the left still needs it.  We can only do 1/2 at a time, because the boom and mainsail are being stored on the bimini while the mast is off.

Port side has beaded water after a rain from the new paint.  Starboard side still needs painted.  

Kris worked some more on the sail drive, and got the port side back together, with new seals.  Hope they don't leak.  The shafts were slightly scored, so used Speedi-Sleeves around shaft.   First time doing it, and first time doing the seals - hope this isn't a situation where third time is a charm - want it to be right the first time.

We hired the shop to fill the two holes, but also having them do some gelcoat fixes.  The first step they do, is to buff the area to be fixed.  This gives them a good surface to work with, to see all the issues.   Unfortunately, the buffing job they did, is better looking than our normal, and if we just wax, we will have these nice shiny spots you can see where the shop guy buffed the boat.

Its obvious where the professional buffed the side of the boat.

Dean talked to the pro, and got some tips, and ordered some supplies.  They did not get in before we had to leave, so buffing will occur when we return.

Dean also worked on our helm seat.  This time the paint stuck.  Looks  much better.

Painted helm seat.  Kris needs to make cushions for it  still.

Friday we took the long taxi ride to Baltimore, and got a hotel for the night, as our flight was at 7:25 a.m. and we did not want to get up at 4:00 to grab a taxi, hoping it would show up, and all would go well.   Excited to go see family in Idaho and Oregon.

 

Waiting for taxi

Salt Lake City airport, finally mountains in the background

First priority upon arrival in Boise, was of course to see our son Derek.   2nd was food, so picked up McDonalds on the way back  to Derek's place.

Yes, she ate the entire large fries by herself.

Derek was a little  low on groceries, and a trip to the store was in order.  Stopped at Walmart for a shower curtain as well, and happened to see these characters dressed up.  They were handing out Halloween candy already.   

Trick or Treat on September 3rd.  Seems early, but Kris did get some "Smarties", so she was happy.

We are ready for a nice couple of weeks of visiting family before heading back home and to more work on the boat before we launch.