General Cleaning

Curt and I have been working on the boat for two solid weeks attempting to reverse the effects of four years of storage and many years of deferred maintenance. At the end of each day the boat looks and smells better. Simple rewards for hard long days of labour. Although the exterior is still dirty and needs attention, we have concentrated our efforts to restore the interior to a liveable and usable condition. The mechanical components were sorely neglected and we have gone through every hose, clamp and thru-hull fitting to prevent future problems. Just washing every nook and cranny and removing dirt and mold was a huge undertaking. Scrubbing fuel was a dirty job. Today we attempt to scrub the engine room and bilges and repair the bilge pumps. The repair list is still a bit overwhelming and growing. One by one each  mechanical system is being restored to operational condition. Soon we expect to have the engine running. The delay is waiting for a replacement “O” ring for the primary fuel filter. By now you have heard so much about our efforts, you may wonder what this vessel looks like. I took some pictures this morning for your amusement. It has been raining here in Maryland most of the days so please disregard the things hanging on the lifelines to dry. The vessel may look a bit disorganized and messy, but consider we are working and there is no time to be tidy. There will be time for that soon. In the pictures, you can see the hard shell dodger with Isinglass windows that roll up for better ventilation. The solar panels will mount on the roof of the dodger.