Dodger time

Since we are staying the winter I’ve decided to start in on many of the maintenance items on the “B” list of jobs that have been hanging around for years. First on the list is the delaminating problem on the top of the hard dodger. The top is made of wood but it’s covered over with fiberglass and paint. The paint has gone bad and areas of the fiberglass covering have delaminated from the underlying wood substrata. All I have to do is replace some fiberglass and paint it… easier said than done!

First, I had to make an enclosure to keep rain off me.

Wee look like refugees from a hurrican

 Next, you have to remove every bit of hardware on the dodger.

Then you “sound” the dodger top and marking off the “loose” area. (To sound an area you tap it and listen to the sound, you can tell by the difference if it’s hollow or not).

The dashed line is the point where the sound changes indicating a loose area.

Then you cut out the bad with a vibro saw.

 

As you can see, there was a bit of trouble under the fiberglass

Afterwards comes the first coat of epoxy to seal the wood and then a coat of fairing material to bring the bad areas back even.

 Next, Fiberglass.

 

Water tank - 2

The special (IE: hideously expensive) food grade epoxy arrived and so I went to work putting 3 coats of it inside of the tank.

How to epoxy the inside of a tank

The inside of the tank turned out nice and white and so all I had to do was reinstall it. Easier said then done.

After we carried it into the Goose, I put the fittings back on to the tank

Droped it into place... notice the beat red face?

Goop up the seal

 

With the application of silicon to the rubber gasket the lid went back into place and the area under our bed finally got rebuilt again. It’s nice to have our boat back together again.

 

The tank is back under its sound deadening foam and Anna's storage compartment is reassembled.

As projects go, this one was a paticularly nasty one because we had to remove the bed, (many times), finding a home for all of the "stuff" under the bed for the weeks that the project took and the nasty business of sandblasting the tank and then epoxying the inside of a small place. I'm glad it's done and may I never have to see the tank again!

 

A change of plans

Hang nails, Split ends,  Dirty toes and SPIT!! We aren’t going to Fl. this winter!!!!!

Anna and I have had a change of plans this winter. We have decided to stay in Oriental NC for the winter. Deaton Marine has offered me a job for the next few months and our “cruising kitty” could stand a bit of monetary input right now.

The deciding factor was how late in the season it’s getting to be. It will be well into the holidays (if not the first of the year) by the time my contracted work is done here and that would leave us (after travel) about 8 weeks in Fla. A short time for a lot of travel and money. Also, we have had several projects that have been on the “B list” for years and a few months spent at the dock could clear up many of those nagging projects. So, it’s bitter sweet in many respects. We will miss all of our good friends we see every winter but by spring the Snow Goose should be in much better condition and the “kitty” will be well fed. That’s the bad news. The good news is that Anna will finally get the bathroom repainted!

So, lets hope for a mild winter with plenty of sun and average temperatures in NC this winter!


We look like a refugee from a hurricane with the addition of a blue tarp. The tarp creates a work room so I can rebuild the fiberglass dodger top.