A boat has been called "A hole in the water you pour a lot of money into!" Too true (but well worth it). I'd like to add that it often requires a lot of work - especially for those not rich enough to hire it all. I have always tried to take the attitude that boat work is not a negative. It gives me exercise, it sometimes allows me to have things on the boat I might not otherwise afford, it can be rewarding to see the fruits of ones labors, it can be helpful to know what makes the boat tick if problems should arise, and of course it's very important to have your boat in good shape for safety.
A lot of the work Sandra and I have done to NiSa has unfortunatley not been photographed, but here's a taste of some of the thing we have done to her.
To prevent the growth of various sea life; barnacles, etc. the boat needs to be hauled out of the water every year or two for new bottom paint. Here's Rod scraping some barnacles off the rudder. Note the bottom is still red.
Here's Sandra putting on some of the new blue bottom paint.
And Rod painting the depth sounder transducer.
Here's Sandra the diver after scraping off some barnacles that inevitably grow on the prop and rudder. She actually stayed in the water way too long and got hypothermia. It was a scary experience and not one we want to repeat.
And Rod working on something in the engine room.
Rod feigning electrocution after completion of the wiring on the new battery installation. We built a box for the 6 new golf cart batteries that are in the salon. It will get painted and have mahogany trim added. Then Sandra is going to make new cushions for the top and it will be an extra seating area. The two strips of green hose cover rod stock that prevent the batteries from moving up in heavy seas.
Being a wood boat there is lots of beautiful wood aboard. We are refinishing all of it, section at a time. Here's Rod using paint and varnish remover to strip off some old varnish. After a LOT of sanding we apply 2 coats of Smiths penetrating epoxy as a sealer base and then at least six coats of Epifanes gloss spar varnish. A light sanding is required between each coat.
In subsequent summers we do a light sanding and add 2 maintenance coats. Hopefully that will prevent the need for the total redo, and will always keep her looking bristol.
Projects planned for the spring/early summer of 2006 are:
A new refrigerator. The old one required huge amounts of battery power. This was a problem when away from shore power as we had to run a generator to recharge. Also Sandra wants a shiny new one - don't blame her!
A new Muir 'Cougar' 1200# electric anchor windlass to replace the old manual "Armstrong" (strong arm) manual model. Besides making it much easier to raise anchor (which we plan to do a lot of), it is also a safety item. If we have any doubt about how well our anchor is 'planted' we will not hesitate to re-anchor due to the ease of the electric windlass. The same will apply if conditions change in the anchorage - we wont hesitate to move to a safer location.
An anchor platform with anchor roller on the foredeck extending out from the bow. It will hold the new huge Bruce 66# anchor and keep it (hopefully) from hitting the hull.
A new drinking water tank. It will replace the old rusted one under the vee berth.
Lots of painting and varnishing.
We are hoping to have these projects done by early summer so that we can move back aboard and do some serious cruising this summer.
