I took a couple of days off before Christmas, when the kids were still in school, to start some of the larger tasks.

The biggest task was ripping the sole out. This was preceeded by removing some of the major systems like water and waste as well as 60% of the cabinetry and galley.

Nothing like 20+ years of dirt and who knows what else.

The primary reason for pulling the boat so early this year was to complete as many projects as possible. We're trying to focus our projects on items that will increase our comfort, safety and value all while keeping in perspective it's a 24 year old production sailboat.

A few of the items we're working on are the replacement of interior hull liner carpet, replace the sole, new electrical, polish hull, improved refridgeration, new water and waste tanks, new water heater, etc.

The picture above is from during the replacement of the hull liner. We removed the cabinetry and then Kris fit and glued the liner in place. We chose a naugehyde product with .25" fire retardant foam backer. The glue was also flame proof. It's a great improvement!

We hauled the boat out ealy in September this year in order to start the refit process/projects. Due to all the work we decided to store it in Green Bay instead of Marinette. This saves us 2 hours drive time every trip to the boat.

The trip down was eight hours of motoring at about 6 knots. The day was full of sunshine but in eight hours we never had more then 3 kts of wind. In the picture we're passing under the Tower Drive Bridge which is only a few yards before our boat yard.

Even with rain, overcast skys and tired parents our kids begged to stay one more night on the boat. So we caught a little of the packer game, rented a movie and enjoyed one more night aboard in our home slip.

After a week of 15+ kt winds the trip home on Saturday gave us nothing. Literally we had next to no wind. So we motored the entire way home.

I was thankful for the auto-pilot otherwise know as "Sir Steer-A-Lot" in our family. We definately prefer wind over the hum of a diesel.