Getting to know her...
The past couple days I’ve opened up as many access panels as possible to inspect, ponder, plan, but mostly to CLEAN! Yes, she has some areas that are quite filthy but I am slowly rectifying that. There are also gobs of little projects, many of which are just not photo-worthy, but here are a few things I did this week.
I wanted to clean out the anchor locker and to do that of course, the anchor, chain and rope needed to be removed. The previous owner wasn’t certain how long the anchor rode was, so I took this chance to actually measure it, inspect everything and ensure the connecting shackles were tight and secure. The rode includes 15 feet of chain and 110 feet of rope for a total of 125 feet. Now I know that I can comfortably anchor in 25 feet of water with a 5:1 scope.
I also removed the cushioned covers from the cockpit locker seat tops. They may be padded, but the core is plywood (unglassed) and felt heavy and waterlogged; this prevents the locker doors from fully opening and damages the hinges, one of which was already broken. Of course, half the screws were stripped so it a bit of effort to remove the seat tops; sure enough, once they were off, they were soaked, with mold proliferating happily on the bottom side. To patch the original seat tops, I first scrubbed them well, let them dry, then used the Dremel tool to grind away a small amount of material around the screw holes on both sides. I taped the topside to prevent epoxy from leaking through, mixed up the epoxy filler and applied to the bottom side. It should fully cure by tomorrow and then I can reinstall the locker door seat tops with the new hinge I finally found at McClendon’s, our local hardware store.
Not all discoveries were pleasant. I removed the forepeak bulkhead cover and discovered that the drain line from the anchor locker had cracked at some point and had been leaking small amounts of water, for goodness knows how long, into both the bilge and into the V-berth. The forward cushion there looked fine on the top, but when removed, the plywood backing was totally soaked through and came apart in my hands as I was disassembling it. Here’s what the underside of the foam cushion looked like:
I wanted to clean out the anchor locker and to do that of course, the anchor, chain and rope needed to be removed. The previous owner wasn’t certain how long the anchor rode was, so I took this chance to actually measure it, inspect everything and ensure the connecting shackles were tight and secure. The rode includes 15 feet of chain and 110 feet of rope for a total of 125 feet. Now I know that I can comfortably anchor in 25 feet of water with a 5:1 scope.
I also removed the cushioned covers from the cockpit locker seat tops. They may be padded, but the core is plywood (unglassed) and felt heavy and waterlogged; this prevents the locker doors from fully opening and damages the hinges, one of which was already broken. Of course, half the screws were stripped so it a bit of effort to remove the seat tops; sure enough, once they were off, they were soaked, with mold proliferating happily on the bottom side. To patch the original seat tops, I first scrubbed them well, let them dry, then used the Dremel tool to grind away a small amount of material around the screw holes on both sides. I taped the topside to prevent epoxy from leaking through, mixed up the epoxy filler and applied to the bottom side. It should fully cure by tomorrow and then I can reinstall the locker door seat tops with the new hinge I finally found at McClendon’s, our local hardware store.
Not all discoveries were pleasant. I removed the forepeak bulkhead cover and discovered that the drain line from the anchor locker had cracked at some point and had been leaking small amounts of water, for goodness knows how long, into both the bilge and into the V-berth. The forward cushion there looked fine on the top, but when removed, the plywood backing was totally soaked through and came apart in my hands as I was disassembling it. Here’s what the underside of the foam cushion looked like:
“Yes, I’d like a side of black mold with my mushroom risotto please!” Thankfully, the anchor locker drain line is now replaced, the V-berth cushion has new foam and new plywood backing, and the entire area has been cleaned with a bleach solution. I even got down into the bilge and scrubbed it as well, which uncovered another issue: the drain passage between the fwd-mid bulkhead was clogged and all the dirty water from my cleaning efforts was backing up into the forepeak bilge. This necessitated the draining & removal of the potable water tank and a functional test of my new manual bilge pump to remove all the scummy water, clearing out the drain passage, making sure it drained correctly and finally, reinstallation of the water tank...whew!
These sorts of things are to be expected when you buy a boat that is 35+ years old. Sure, she may be filthy in places with components that are worn out or broken, but what a great project to pass the time during this COVID-enforced period of self-isolation! I’m also convinced I made the right decision; her hull is solid (no evidence of collisions or groundings and no thru-hulls below the waterline), her light displacement gives her low hull drag and the area under the cockpit is blessedly uncluttered and (relatively) roomy which bodes well when I get to the point of installing the electric motor and battery bank.
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| Replacement cushion for V-berth |