25 Feb The Refit

When we arrived the boat yard was already hard at work on projects, the bottom had been Soda blasted down to the original fiberglass and they were fairing out all the little pin holes and imperfections on the surface.

Also, when the old paint came off it revealed a previous repair that had delaminated and needed attention. They took care of that as well.

After sitting for so long the rudder would not move so it had to be taken out and the rudder post repaired and reinstalled. The prop was sent out and tuned since we had it off. The shaft stuffing box, where the drive shaft goes through the hull was taken apart and repacked with new packing. The engine needed to be realigned as well so everything went back together straight and true. Most of the stop cocks on the thru hull fittings were replaced with new and the rest serviced so they worked as new. The exhaust hose from the engine to the thru hull fitting was replaced as well because it was cracked and old.  The house batteries were toast and needed replacement so “Bring Out Another Thousand” later and we have new AGM house batteries.  The solar array seemed to be working but the batteries for it were dry. They took a charge after being topped up so we are going to try to live with them. I did a test and they ran the Fridge and freezer for 24 hours so hope for the best.

I am calling this post the “Refit” because there were considerable repairs done to the boat, but mostly, for us it was the cleaning. Every inch and surface on the boat and accessories needed to be cleaned, mold and ash from the burning of nearby sugar cane fields had taken over.

When I got into the boat for the first time I said to the yard hand working on the exhaust, ” If I was shopping for and old boat and I walked into this, I would just turn around and run the other way!”, but like kinda like Janet, I already have a lot of work invested in her and I love her so I can’t just give up on her. So let the cleaning begin!

She was a huge mess!

I don’t even want to post all the pictures, too depressing…

We were staying in a rented trailer in the boat yard for the first six days so our priority was to get the cabin liveable. Cabin by cabin we emptied everything out, cleaned it, cleaned the cabin completely, then moved our stuff back in. It took the better part of the week to do that.

We had to evict some wildlife.

This poor little guy looked like he had a tragic death waiting for us to come back.

We were overwhelmed with the interior so I paid Jolly Roger Marine restoration to Acid wash the exterior, it was expensive but we went out to buy groceries and painting supplies and returned  to a white boat.

It was a big moral booster for sure.

Once the cleaning was done, the painting and varnishing began.  There was some rot on the trim of the Hat band that had to be replaced. It was curved and with limited tools I had get creative, bending a little more each day until fit enough to screw down and seal tight.

Meanwhile we stripped all the teak back to bare wood, and sanded lightly to refinish it. I made jokes to the neighbours about putting Janet out stripping to help with the yard bill.

Here she is putting it back on.

If you notice she has PPE on because earlier she tried to brand herself with a heating gun. She is healing up nicely!

Little by little the projects started to come together and she is starting to show the “Love” again..

Prop looks so pretty now I almost don’t want to get it wet.

Almost!

It was a busy 18 days and we were exhausted but very Happy to get Nautoncall back where she belongs, In the water!