Still screwing around

[BS Smith]

A year ago I started to "paint the deck." To date, I'm still disassembling and have yet even to begin sanding. Most recently the toerail mounted gennie tracks were removed. The tracks sit on tubular spacers so the toerail underneath is visible and its varnish absent. Also, the port track had a buckle midlength where it was secured with wood screws rather than the nuts and bolts used elsewhere. Screws were used because scuppers in the area prevented through bolting. Hope to do a better job when reinstalling. And, yes, now I can rebed the fasteners. Next up is to pull the stanchions.

I am far from the most diligent and skilled worker, but then again I am working on the boat "full time." That is, after retiring (at 56...) the boat is my main occupation. I hope my pace improves when putting things back together, but because of needed fabrication, that's much less than certain.

So, as caution to other starry-eyed novices, I wanted to recall Tim's 6 Oct 06 advice to another:

It looks to me like your deck is in poor enough overall condition that patchwork repairs would never be aesthetically pleasing, and it's best to simply commit to doing the whole job--and doing it right (and once).

Beware, though: this approach can often lead to a long, involved process. Before you begin any deck work, ensure that you have the time available to complete it before you want to relaunch the boat and go sailing. I don't see anything so horrible in your pictures that would indicate that the decks are in horrible, unsail-able condition, so if you're not quite ready to jump in with both feet, I suggest that you avoid any major dismantling or demolition until such a time as you are truly ready to get into what might become a sizeable project--by virtue of the cosmetic work alone, not even including what you might find hidden within.

Don't let fixing the boat prevent you from sailing her next season, if that's your intent. You have a project ahead at some point, but the immediacy of need to complete that project may not be critical. If you start now, there's a good chance you won't be sailing next season--good enough if that's your intent, but it's best to think carefully through these jobs before diving in. I don't know what other demands there might be on your time, but you do; carefully evaluate those other demands against the boat repairs, and be honest about the time you can commit to the boat. This will help avoid the disappointment and frustration that can occur if you get in over your head and cannot complete the work in the time you had alloted--a very, very, very common occurrence.


That said, time for me to get off the computer and on the boat!

Brian

[bigd14]

Hah, I can relate to that! I bought my boat exactly one year ago, figuring I would be sailing it this summer. NOT. At this rate, I will be lucky to sail next summer. Luckily (or unluckily) the poor economy has prevented me from selling our other boat, so we are still able to get out.

Keep it going. Slow and steady wins the race...

Doug