2010: With so many things to fix it's hard to know where to begin. The Omarsea is 16 this year. Thats like being 75 to you and me. She bears her age well but that does still mean there are items that must be examined before she goes back into the water.
Among the big items on my list are the drving forces. The engine with an excess of 9000 hours is slated for rebuild and this will happen later this year as I get free time from the house projects. The Shaft prop and cutlass bearing will be examined closely and replaced as needed.
The rudder shows signs of the excessive forces applied during our time in the Caribbean. Stress cracks and corrosion will be tested for signs of weakness and new parts fabricated.
One of the big items on my plate will be re-tabbing the wooden interior bulkheads to the hull again. Over the spring of 2008 we experienced excessive seas on the bow and the aging tabs failed in a couple of places.
In a previous photo I placed on the blog is shown the keel encased in epoxy. This same keel in Bonaire grew sponges some 2' long and attracted so many fish the Omarsea became a favorite night dive destination. We ofetn were awaken by divers right under the hull taking photos of the fish, sponges and keel. Their noisy bubbles bursting on the hull.
We fought back valiently though. The kids would leap from their bunks fighting to be the first to the stereo. We have large speakers in the hull that when the theme music from the movie "Jaws" is played creates havoc among the diving demons. Take that !