sogood
Well-Known Member
I recently mentioned to Wayne, in his Buckingham overhaul thread, that in the rush to get her wet, it can be a bad move to take shortcuts, which will have to be corrected eventually anyway. Don't ask me how I know, I'll tell you.
I managed to convince myself that antifouling probably wasn't really necessarry, and that it was better to leave the original, untouched gel coat as it was. And if needed, it could always be done at the next haul out.
Of course, it was needed, and how. On one of my last trips back up the bay it felt as though I was dragging my anchor behind me, and then some.
I could see the build up of barnacles along the sides through the summer, especially as the boat sits on the mud bottom at low tide, when the harbour drains fully. But underneath was something else entirely!
So, she's at home now, on the hard and I've spent several days rolling about on my back, under the boat scraping barnacles down into my face and mouth. Then after removing the actual barnacles, there's the little hard remnants which must be removed, followed by the staining etc. But I'm almost there. The last difficult sections to do are the parts of the hull that sit on the bunks. So, after raising and dropping the trailer and taking various measurements, to work out where I wanted the boat to sit, I made up some stands to support the boat, which would allow me to drop the bunks. The bunks are only supported with some bolts and once the weight is taken off them, it was easy to pop the bolts out and let the bunks drop in their housing. This will also allow me to antifoul everywhere while the boat is still on the trailer. I'm using a Hemple antifoul which has a 12- 18 month window before the boat is splashed again, although I want to be back on the water for spring time.
Aside from that, I'm doing some tweaking and cleaning and some work on the outdrive, as in, replacing the various bellows, he lower shift cable, along with cleaning and painting same. My next delivery of parts and "special Mercruiser tools" is due tomorrow!!!
To make removing the outdrive and working on it a bit easier, I modified a stand that I'd made up some time ago when I was working on the lower leg, changing the impellar etc. I cut the stand down, shortening it and sat it on a small trolley, at just the right height, to accept the oudrive once it was unbolted. (I pulled the prop for convenience) and simply had to wheel the outdrive into the shed, where it sits awaiting attention. It's my "rainy day" job.
So, that's what I'm at just now, trying to get as much done before the 2019 touring season kicks in. More to follow.....
I managed to convince myself that antifouling probably wasn't really necessarry, and that it was better to leave the original, untouched gel coat as it was. And if needed, it could always be done at the next haul out.
Of course, it was needed, and how. On one of my last trips back up the bay it felt as though I was dragging my anchor behind me, and then some.
I could see the build up of barnacles along the sides through the summer, especially as the boat sits on the mud bottom at low tide, when the harbour drains fully. But underneath was something else entirely!
So, she's at home now, on the hard and I've spent several days rolling about on my back, under the boat scraping barnacles down into my face and mouth. Then after removing the actual barnacles, there's the little hard remnants which must be removed, followed by the staining etc. But I'm almost there. The last difficult sections to do are the parts of the hull that sit on the bunks. So, after raising and dropping the trailer and taking various measurements, to work out where I wanted the boat to sit, I made up some stands to support the boat, which would allow me to drop the bunks. The bunks are only supported with some bolts and once the weight is taken off them, it was easy to pop the bolts out and let the bunks drop in their housing. This will also allow me to antifoul everywhere while the boat is still on the trailer. I'm using a Hemple antifoul which has a 12- 18 month window before the boat is splashed again, although I want to be back on the water for spring time.
Aside from that, I'm doing some tweaking and cleaning and some work on the outdrive, as in, replacing the various bellows, he lower shift cable, along with cleaning and painting same. My next delivery of parts and "special Mercruiser tools" is due tomorrow!!!
To make removing the outdrive and working on it a bit easier, I modified a stand that I'd made up some time ago when I was working on the lower leg, changing the impellar etc. I cut the stand down, shortening it and sat it on a small trolley, at just the right height, to accept the oudrive once it was unbolted. (I pulled the prop for convenience) and simply had to wheel the outdrive into the shed, where it sits awaiting attention. It's my "rainy day" job.
So, that's what I'm at just now, trying to get as much done before the 2019 touring season kicks in. More to follow.....
