Rover

Life on the Hard-Week 2

22 September 2013 | Seattle, WA
Linda
Things continue to come apart for cleaning or replacement. We have moved the starboard settee cushions to the storage unit and the starboard settee is now the toolbox storage area. We have a toolbox for wrenches, one for screwdrivers, one for various kinds of tape, one for hammers and chiseling tools, one for the drill, one for the driver, one for pliers and others too. It seems to take a lot of tools to keep up a boat. Eric uses many of them every day.

We met with Dan and Lisa (of Port Townsend Rigging) this week. They will be replacing the rod rigging and updating and painting the mast and boom. Our splash date may slip another week out.

Eric has transcribed the previous owner’s handwritten logbook into an excel spreadsheet and found that there had been some fiberglass repair to the underside of the boat.

On Thursday we found the spot. Water had penetrated that area. We opened it up to dry it out and our fiberglass guy Todd (of On The Flye) will make the repair. Todd also planned out the repair of the anchor locker. It had been quite wet and the plywood was rotten. He suggested that we use large tubes to hold the anchor chain and will build a structure out of fiberglass to hold the tubes. It will also serve as a step to climb in or out of the forward hatch.

Also on Thursday as Eric was working with the chainplates to run the ground, we snapped a bolt. It was corroded through and just basically fell off. The good news is that we don’t have to wonder if we need to replace the chainplates – now we know. We will add that to our list of things for the riggers to take care of. The other good news is that the chainplates are more easily accessible than we had expected, so we probably won’t need to disassemble the boat too severely to have them replaced.

I have been doing brightwork this week. I bought a jar of furniture paste wax and have been using 0000 steel wool to rub the wax in and then a soft cloth to buff it out. The interior of the boat is mostly cherry and there is a lot of it. The first jar of wax is about a third used up and there is a long way still to go. I estimate that it will be a three jar project.

We are spending the weekend with Dan in Seattle. It is great to be off the boat for a bit and enjoy the comforts of ‘home’. I will get to cook dinner 2 nights and won’t have to spend quarters to have a shower.

Life is good.
Comments
Vessel Name: Rover
Vessel Make/Model: Valiant 42
Hailing Port: Seattle. WA
Crew: Eric and Linda
About:
We're making a big change to a cruising lifestyle. Eric retired in 2012 after 32 years in R&D (mostly) at HP. Previous passions included flying and bicycling. Linda will retire in 2013 from Oregon State University. She's been active in Zonta, was a Scoutmaster, and is a champion baker. [...]
Extra: Linda was barrel master and Eric participated in the Jackson Street Vintners; a group of friends that made wine from 2000 to 2013
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