Maintenance Weekend

This will be the first time on the boat alone since dad passed. The boat he had built some 30 years ago and the one we have co owned for nearly 20 years.




I can sail, navigate and maneuver her fairly well. Other than blowing out a sail in 94, I haven’t caused her any damage in all our travels. But other than checking fluids and focusing on specific major projects, I just haven't spent much time in the engine room. dad supervised most of the maintenance. This will be my ' get acquainted' weekend with the focus on the gaps in my knowledge of systems and prioritizing what needs to be done on the boat.



I picked the worst jobs first. We've had a pesky leak in the lazarette and that involved emptying out all the contents of this remote recess on the boat. I may have fixed it but only a good rain will prove it. I also attacked the engine room. Years of spares are stowed here.



Dad had many talents and strengths. One of his weaknesses was leaving either a hardware or marine store with visions of scenarios where 'that' could come in handy. He would see ‘that thing’, and think ‘that’ could come in handy sometime. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe next month or next year, but sometime, ‘that’ could really come in handy. There are hundreds of 'thats'.



50 years of gadgets, parts, little things that 'someday' might come in handy. Some of them are cool. a sextant, bought on a whim. It may provide a challenge in the future. Mastering celestial navigation. Cool. I like that. Then there are the two industrial magnets designed to retrieve something made of ferrous metal that has dropped overboard. One was in perfect shape, the other so rusty it was nearly unrecognizable. One stays one goes. And there were scores of things like that.



The other task involved the aft deck lockers. Emptied out everything, cleaned everything, painted the inside of one (being a contortionist would have helped) and clear the drainage tubes. I ended .up replacing and re engineering one of them to prevent water from coming in, hoping if not to outright solve the actual leak, preventing water from coming to the lazerette.



All these little things that need to be done and far more, but there’s good momentum. Dad and I prepped the boat for the round Vancouver trip, now I just have to leverage that and continue. Brightwork will wait till next spring. 

Note: at the time it didn't occur to me to take an pictures of the actual work.  The pics are random shots from the weekend.