So we have been extremely busy over the last 2 weeks between working full time and working on on the boat and the heat advisory for the weather there just hasn’t been anytime for me to update. So I am combining the last 2 work weekends into one post so we are back up to date.
There has been some more progress on the boat – first, the good: Now that the FL summer is here, there is rain just about every day in the afternoon. When we got to boat we found that not only was the bilge full with water but we found some more leaking. One place for the leaking that we found was one of the solar fans that was behind the cockpit and was going directly into the aft cabin flooring. So we had an “extra” solar fan and replaced the fan. (I thought we had lost this one in one of the many shopping sprees that I did earlier and couldn’t find it so I ordered another one. Had I known then we had 3 fans, I would have bought enough to replace them all). The transducer has been installed, the sacrificial zinc plate was replaced. Now that the anti-foul paint had been done the blue water line obviously didn’t fit the boat so it needed to be sanded and repainted. We opted to go with Gold paint to give it a super sexy and classic look. Well taking down that blue “paint” wasn’t paint. It was a vinyl sticker so nothing that a paint scraper couldn’t fix and I was able to remove almost all of it. What I wasn’t able to remove, we sanded to rough it up, wipe it down with Acetone and then applied the Gold paint. The fireplace and chimney has been removed completely. I think that is where we are going to put the AC unit and maybe an Ice Machine?
We were able to fix the hole in the subflooring after we realized that this was added bracing that just wasn’t placed where it should be (could be where the salon table goes, but that is to be determined). Went to Lowe’s and purchased the pressure treated wood to replace the floor and got that put in so we can now walk safely on the floor. Andy used the plexiglass that we purchased to get the electrical panels installed so we can start that project next.
We had the Rigger come out and get that set up so we can get the Mast stepped. Other misc items we did: I started to sand and prep the design work under the bow sprint. We compromised on this by keeping it as the teak for the base, outline the scroll work in Black paint (which I proceed to spill all over the ladder and ground this weekend, ugh!!) and the inside of the scroll work will be Gold and then spar varnish to finish. Cleaned and spray painted the helm so it looks really clean now.
We did put the kitchen back together and did a temp fix for the 4 holes on the cockpit where the old instruments were and we had them covered with blue painters tape. We will fill and fibgerglass them at a later date if we determine we don’t need them.
The lifelines were all scrubbed and cleaned this weekend with 303 so they are looking awesome! Oh and we installed the new to us Magma grill! That is a fun thing so we can now cook while on the boat! So while it doesn’t feel like we did a lot, we have given the extreme heat that we were working in.
We removed several bags of trash this weekend that was just sort of there and organized the interior some so that everything is not just all over the place and can find things again.
Some of the bad – the engine that we had and went to install was too small. It was discovered that the place where we purchased the engine had our sailboat confused with another. This has caused us the delay of being able to splash and move into the new marina closer to home. We or rather Andy spent some time making phone calls to people we have already met and was able locate a motor for us. It was pulled from a generator and is being rebuilt for us so hopefully we can try this engine thing again and get in the water. In the meantime, our goal is make her as water tight as we can right now.
So all in all, progress over the last 2 weekends has been good overall. Our goal right now is to get Free Spirit water tight and looking as good as possible for the move to her new homeport in Clearwater. Hopefully we can splash soon and continue on with project. The last 2 things that we need to get her ready is get the engine installed and step the mast!
We do have some leakage from water in the portholes and main windows. We purchased some sealant for a temporary fix until we can replace all of the windows. All of the portholes and salon windows need to be replaced along with the hatch covers (but those are not leaking… yet).
In the meantime, we will continue on with other projects and progress, like installing the batteries, electricity for shore power and water/plumbing lines. We are in the planning phase for that so we can see what we need to buy and how much of what to get to the next phase.
