and the boatwork just keeps on coming...
10 May 2005 | manteo waterfront marina, North Carolina
Jeannette
Here is the status of things for now. I bought myself a columbia 28' last Spring to learn all about working on sailboats and to learn to singlehand. Brian and I worked on Seanorita, (we like to call her that, although her stern remains a blank slate, nameless), all year. We repaired a spongy spot in the deck, filled many holes and cracks and unsightly patches with epoxy, completely painted her inside and out, added wood paneling, custom wood accents, pressurized plumbing for the galley and the head, replaced worn parts, rebedded (and replaced much of) all the deck hardware, fabricated an anchor locker door, added new faucets in sink and head, new water tank, painted and repaired the atomic 4 inboard gasoline engine, added all new upholstery and curtains, added a stove, repaired and varnished all exterior teak, fabricated a new see-through hatch, rebedded ports and installed new acrylic, you get the idea... We are reaping the rewards of all of our hard work, we have moved off of Puff and aboard Seanorita. We work on Puff for hours and hours and then drop the hatchboards and step onto our new home in the slip next door. By living aboard 'Rita we are able to make sure she is a comfortable livaboard for her next owner, she is for sale. And man is she comfy! She is very light, bright and airy inside, tons of room, a real pleasure to live on. We have full headroom (6 feet), lots of storage and a huge living area and V-Berth. We love it! Not one leak, (knock on fiberglass), and our dog Charlie loves it too. We have begun work on Puff - we are currently in the process of redoing all of the exterior wood: stripping the varnish, sanding, cleaning, and recoating. We are getting ready to paint the decks with new non-skid. We are rebedding the dorade boxes and filling smal cracks and holes in the fiberglass with epoxy. We are putting in foot pumps for both fresh and saltwater in the galley, new light in the head, building new settee backs and divided storage behind them. We discovered a new wood to use for our jerrycan board and windlass mount. It's called Purple Heart, the tree grows in Venezula. It is as big as a redwood and when it is mature it has flowers on the very top. To spot trees to harvest, they have to fly over and look for the flowers. It is used in boatbuilding and for pilings. It does really well in the marine environment. Compared with teak it costs $6.20/foot and teak is around $20/foot. It weathers beautifully, turns a rich brown after years of exposure. the only thing is, it is bright purple! Bright purple, then gray, then brown... I love this wood! Highly durable and very strong and I think it's pretty. I'm in the process of selling my Massage Therapy business and we are trying to sell Brian's HobieCat 16. I have organized our three storage units in preparation for our huge sale to happen sometime this summer. All we have to do is keep working to prepare Puff and save our money at the same time. How do we do that? Oh well, we're loving every minute of it just the same, remember life is about the journey. Catch y'all later!