Sunday, October 09, 2005

Saturday seemed to generate more questions than we had answers for: did we have an all-lead ballast? are the bilges still collecting oil? is the woodwork sound? can we get the oil residue out of the woodwork?

After a few cups of coffee on Sunday, we decided to go back to the barn and find the answers! We pulled out all the deckboards that covered the bilges and went to work cleaning with Simple Green, a citrus degreaser, a fresh water hose and a submersible pump. The mess was extensive, since in years past the hatches were left open to rain and snow and the boat had three inches of oily bilge water in the cabin - the woodwork was stained by it and the bilges were smelling of diesel fuel oil. We scrubbed with degreasers, opened all the compartments, and pumped out the bilges until the water was clear.

The woodwork of the original owner is sound, although it still shows staining on the bottom 3 inches (can a "baseboard" cover it?), and the counter tops in the galley and chart table are poorly done (can we get them off and use them for templates for new ones?), but the cabinet doors, drawer faces and cupboard doors are nice teak (although unfinished) and look like they will take a nice tung oil coating and give us a rich look.

We're hoping that the basic teak plywood will take a nice paint coat in white, and we'll add the trim pieces for corners, bullnoses, and edging in oiled teak. As long as we can get the diesel fuel oil smell out of the cabin we'll be OK. We pulled out the deckboards over the bilges to use as patterns for new ones. The large bilge opening in the main salon houses two fresh water tanks (the boat had one and we'll buy another for a total of 80 gallons of fresh water). We also were pleased to learn that we have 7,000 lbs of all-lead ballast (as opposed to part lead and part steel punchings) which is not prone to corrosion and is encapsulated in fiberglass resin.

The forward V-berths, which can sleep three, are soundly built, if not trimmed out, and with insulated sides and the overhead finished in white bead-board, it will be a bright place to bunk. We plan to replace the solid forward hatch over the V-berths with an opening skylight.

The galley and navigation station are well-built but not trimmed out and need new tops, bookcases, storage cabinets, and better electrical controls. The drawers are well-built, but we need to do a lot of finish work to make both positions useable.

We have hopes and will be able to determine our best course of action in the next couple of weeks while the cabin dries out and I build the barn workbench, get the boat parts organized and inventory the odds and ends.

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