Sunday, November 9, 2014

The Nocturne: Stripping Wood and Grime

Adam has lost no time in attacking the sailboat with screwdriver and cleaners. And he has a very enthusiastic side-kick!
We peeled the old name off right away.
He started by removing the rub rails along the sides. They were in such bad shape. He'll make new ones, not of teak but of oak, stained and varnished. There are so many old holes in the fiberglass, some of them rusty, some of them plugged up. He'll bore some of them out, refill, and redrill with the new rails.
Rust, broken screws, and old wood, badly spliced:
And the port side as well -- the old rail is off and sitting on top there.

This piece is from the cockpit and has a cleat attached.
It was here:
He'll remove the one on the other side too.
Every piece of wood will come off and be either replaced or redone.
Julia has spent lots of time in the cabin, scrubbing away. We thought we'd need to powerwash the cabin too, but she's doing such a gorgeous job, we probably won't need to. She wants it to smell nice, and be clean and dry. She wants it to be her hide-away, while the boat is on the hard, which is fine with us. I've told her it might be a tiny bit COLD this winter!
Color update: This answers Jody's question about paint colors. The hull color (which is white now) will be dark blue. The bottom color (which is sea blue now) will be dark green or black. The deck will be beige, and the no-skid sections will be pale blue, I think. Can't wait to see it when all this happens!

4 comments:

Pom Pom said...

How fun! What a happy boat you'll have when you launch her as your own (don't forget the sparkling cider!)

Kezzie said...

Ooooooooooooooooooooh, how exciting! Love Julia's exuberance!x

Lisa Richards said...

Fun work! That cabin would make a good hideaway! :)

Leslie said...

I've never thought of the work it takes to maintain a sailboat like this. I can't wait to see it finished.