Happy new year! As the days start getting longer and the winter chill begins to bite, my attention turns towards spring! Let me tell you, owning a boat makes winter seem longer. Fortunately I have many projects planned for the boat this year. Chris, who has been my partner in crime on the Surprise, has been kind enough to help me plan and execute improvements to the boat. When I bought SHAZAM in August of 2007 I already had some ideas for improvements and upgrades I wanted to do this winter. They include:
- Remove old Signet wind gauges
- Add a new sound system
- Replace incandescent lights with LED (except nav lights)
- Strip the tiller and repaint
- Build new locker doors (old ones are rotting)
- Repaint deck and nonskid
- Add furler for jib & recut the 150 genoa
- Rename the boat, remove the old graphics and add pinstripe. (yes there will be some sort of renaming ceremony with offers to poseidon)
For the haulout I removed the locker doors and tiller (as well as all of the usual seasonal stuff). The tiller is made of solid aluminum and was originally painted white. I have stripped and cleaned it, and have decided to have the tiller powdercoated instead of going the spraypaint route. That will be done next month, along with the rebuilding of the locker doors. In the meantime, Chris and I decided that we needed to get out of town and used it as an excuse to go up to Sandusky and get some work completed on the boat itself.
The first project we tackled was to remove the signet gauges. The masthead sensors were not on the boat when I bought it, and rather than go through the time and expense of replacing them I decided to remove them and use a simple masthead fly instead. The empty cavities would be used to mount outdoor marine speakers. The compass would also be moved from port to starboard to create a balanced look and sound. The speakers will need to be shielded as to not interfere with the compass. We experimented with the standard speakers that would be used inside the cabin and it threw the compass off by about 5 degrees.
With the gauges removed, Chris went about removing the wind instrument wiring. While he did that, I installed the new anchor holder on the pulpit. I then set about getting measurements of the companionway doors and forward hatch for the new screens. I also measured the new dimensions needed for the speaker/compass mounting holes. A job for the sawzall on the next trip! We also discussed the new lighting system, which would call for the standard incandescent bulbs to be replaced with LEDs as well as the addition of new cockpit and companionway lights.With the wiring removed and measurements taken, we decided to inspect the keel and rudder since they were items of concern at the haul out (keel has some surface rust, rudder had some minor damage from the previous owner). Upon further inspection the keel seems solid, and the rust is indeed superficial. We will remove the rust and touch up the bottom paint. There will also be some minor repairs that a box of MarineTex will take care of. The rudder damage is small, however I noticed that the rudder has a very large blister (about 6" across) dead center of the starboard side. I poked a hole in it to test for delamination, but it was dry. I am sure that the rudder is fine, but I will research it and find out if it's an area of concern.
With our time growing short, we decided the last order of business was to remove the name SHAZAM. Chris gathered his supplies and started the process of removing the name. However, we discovered that Oleg (the previous owner) had used a super heavy-duty grade vinyl to make the name. Chris' remover spray had no impact, so we'll be coming back with a hairdryer. Looks like she'll have to live with the terrible name for a few more weeks.We bid farewell to the boat and headed over to the yard to check on her mast. We wanted to remove the wind instrument wiring, and I needed to grab the forestay so I could get the new furler. After we got what we needed, off we went to Demore's Fish Den for a bite to eat and headed home. With busy weeks ahead I think I'll tackle my at-home projects in February (powdercoat tiller, fabricate new locker doors and screens) and return to Sandusky in early March. In the meantime I'm prepping for some relief from winter via a trip to Maui! Aloha!
