Breaking the mold
We arrived back at “Submit” to find a real train wreck. It would have been bad enough just to find
the demolished portions we left behind.
However, adding insult to injury,
mold. everywhere.
So, phase one was to remove everything from the boat. We rented a storage unit (or two) and hauled
truck loads away. This is one way to
learn how much you have accumulated over several years.
Some stuff only made it as far as the
trash. We didn’t bother to do a lot of
sorting, so some of it will be eliminated as we move back aboard.
Phase two is
Clean. Barbara is the
most dedicated hard worker. She scrubbed
the entire interior with bleach water.
She has been sealing holes and sanding and masking. She’ll begin priming the entire interior with
Kilz primer this afternoon and then paint it all. Soon all will be clean and shiny.
Meanwhile, I am attempting belt and suspenders on the fuel
tanks. As a review, both tanks developed
pin hole leaks. I believe the process was accelerated by the construction
methods used when the tanks were built 10 or 11 years ago.
To get the tanks out, lower salon berths had to be
disassembled and both water tanks removed.
Then, a significant chunk of built in glued screwed and plugged
cabinetry had to be removed. Then, the
upper saloon sole had to be removed.
The tanks were delivered to a local welding
shop which guaranteed they could repair the tank and there would be no
leaks.
After repairing the
first tank, we discovered a leak in the second tank. After it was repaired, both tanks were
reinstalled and most of the boat put back together, with new upper salon sole,
only to discover that the
first tank still had a leak. We removed
everything again and took that tank back to the welder. He apologized profusely and repaired again
and tested with light pressure. Having
no leak show up, we took the tank back to the boat. However, before installing, I put it on saw
horses and partially filled with fuel and let it set overnight. No leak showed, so it was reinstalled and much
of the boat put back together plus dumping about 7 gallons of fuel into
it. Next morning, a tiny leak manifested
itself to Barbara's discerning eye. Disassemble the boat again, pull
the tank and drop off at the welding shop which had closed early on a Friday
afternoon. I made sure they could tell
it was leaking and left “encouraging notes”.
Saturday and Sunday were spent throwing everything into the boat and
preparing to close her up for 9 months.
Monday morning I met with the welder who promised the tank would be
fixed and pressure tested and delivered to the boat. We left for home an hour later.
As for the belt and suspenders, I’ve pressure tested both
tanks personally. KBS makes a fuel tank
internal coating system which I will install in both tanks. It’s time consuming but I believe worth it to
do everything I can to prevent future problems.
It will be good to have them reinstalled and the new upper saloon sole
in place and water tanks reinstalled and lower saloon berths rebuilt.
Additional projects this trip include painting the topsides
and deck and replacing the 50 year old teak toe rail with aluminum toe
rail. I still need to come up with a
good idea and material for replacing the rub rails. I also need to reinstall the cleaned engine
heat exchanger and the new primary alternator,
and put new bearings in the wind generator, and check out the front
seals of the transmission and reinstall it and check out the bilge pumps and
install a garboard plug assembly and bottom paint and …..
Don’tcha just love owning a classic?
