Just in from Knock Off 37VT66

Buster [who works for the boat yard] says the portside fuel fill fitting needs re-bedding—letting some water into the boat. That may be where the leak has been for the last ten years. I told him to fix both the port and starboard sides and to check the water fills. We were masked out of the boat so I couldn't get a picture of the bilge primer coat. It looked good through the vinyl sheeting, however. His guys are careful workers. 

They were getting ready to reinstall the [saloon top hand] rails. The hole in the deck have been pre-filled with something. The shipwright said he found the rubber bushings Tommy used. I'm having Sunbrella snap-on covers made for the rails. He was masking off the rails from the bedding compound to be applied.

They've prepped the mast for paint too. Here's what else I found going on with the bright work yesterday.  The interiors of the doors are next.  They’re using a satin varnish on the interior sides.  Hope they find all the hardware that was removed!

The light boards weren’t in bad condition but they sure look better than ever.  When I refinished them a few seasons back I used spade electrical connectors so they aren’t hard to remove.

You’ve probably noticed how dark the teak is—I think  it’s a combination of using the two-part varnish as the prime coat and the numerous coats of traditional varnish on top.  I rather like it.  They’ve sanded the dark spots on the cap rail and will be applying two coats of Cetol to that teak this week.  Buster said she may go outside again early next week.  It would be nice to keep her there until April!

The fuel tanks are to be delivered this week. 

We inspected the tuned and polished prop that Ralph of Digital Prop Shop had at his office.  He said the prop had some dings from the times Dave Howell made me plow through mud and some what he described as waves.  But he said it was nothing serious.  It sure looked too good to put back in the bay.  He likes the Pettit antifouling paint for props and rudders—I’ve used it two or three seasons now and it seems to work.