S/V Paperbird: A busy couple of weeks!

The final push to get ready for the season. Seems like no matter how many projects get done during the winter, it's always a rush at the last minute. But first a very necessary diversion...

Sock burning party at the marina

The door of the propane locker has long ago given up it's wooden core and turned into a spongy trap on the starboard deck. So off it came and out came the dremel tool. Cutting away the inside skin allowed access to vacuum out the old rotten core. New core in a thickened epoxy bed, followed by a couple layer of fiberglass cloth.

Rebuilding the door for the fuel locker

Now to reinstall and test.

Installing the new door

Aahh. Much better. And the new core is isolated from the now through-bolted hinges so there shouldn't be any future core issues.

Now it's safe to walk on

Who goes sailing without tunes? But the ipod playlist needs a decent stereo and speakers to be heard. It's amazing how easy it gets to disassemble all the interior cabinetry after the umpteenth time.

Installing a new stereo

We're having a new canvas enclosure built. They started while up in the yard. And continued in the water. Should be great when it's finished!

Meeting neighbors at the marina

Now on to one of those ugly projects that's not hard, just a pain. Rebedding all the lifeline stanchions. The old ones were gasketed and the gaskets had hardened and flexed way too much. Off with the stanchions, in went the thickened epoxy to reinforce the holes, then back went the stanchions with a solid bed of butyl tape. Much stiffer and dryer!

Removed all stanchions to re-bed them

While working on the stanchions, we found out that the headliner in the aft cabin was great at soaking up all the winter condensation. So off it came to be dried, re-glued and re-attached. That project wasn't even on the list!