If you could, what would you be working on right now? What kind of projects? This can't last forever.
I need to paint the bottom this year, but the problem is I might take it all the way down and switch to Interlux VC-17 bottom paint instead of Interlux NT ablative. You have to put it on every season but VC 17 is so ablative that the front of the keel and rudder are often bald at the end of the season. You never have to sand or scrape again... ever! It is teflon based so it is very slippery as well.
Other projects for me will be revarnishing some of the teak and finish adding ash ceiling boards in the V-berth. The port side is done and the starboard side is started. It looks so much better than that slab of white fiberglass. If I have time I need to replumb the forward water tank, we haven't used it since we first launched.
Dale
Working on the fwd. cabin & head doors in the cellar. Most everything else that needs doing is on the boat. Yard is shut down so everything else is in limbo for now.
This doesn't work out too bad for me. I never have enough time to do what is needed, so a year on the hard may work out.
This winter I had the v-drive rebuilt, a new cutlass bearing, and a new Gori 2-bladed folding prop. Last year I sewed a new bimini, first time I did anything like that. It actually came out pretty good. I also put in a new hot water heater but have to do the freshwater side, new pump, hoses, etc. I am am going to start on a dodger as soon as I can can into the boatyard to make a pattern. Mast is off and need to get the rigging inspected. Maybe new lifelines. A million other things also. It never ends.
Mike
I am in the midst of an engine rebuild and fuel tank replacement or refurb.The shutdown has allowed me the luxury of working at my leisure....
Other projects hoped to be started include having the bottom soda blasted down to the barrier coat. WalkAbout (formerly TropicBird) has a West Epoxy barrier coat and many layers of ablative. The paint needs to come off. Was quoted $2000 to soda blast-that's quite a bite and not sure I can swing given the fact that I am out of work. For 2K I'd be tempted to bring her home and buy the gear to do it myself next winter.
I have a lifetime of projects ahead of me, but I like it that way😊
Jpendoley more or less poses the question: do we enjoy the projects more than... you know, actually sailing???
OK... I'll be the first to reply. I enjoy working on boats as much and perhaps more than actually using them. That would probably explain why once a boat is done (in my mind) I am on to the next. Perhaps that will explain why I went into that business. I often live vicariously through my customers projects. Before the business I owned over twenty boats, it has only gotten worse. Up north we can only sail seasonally but I can work on boats 12 months a year.
Dale
Oh yes Dale, you are in good company. Absolutely, I enjoy working on them as much as sailing them. I just returned from happily scrubbing my now empty engine bay of oil and grime and I actually enjoyed myself. Now that I am laid off...I have lots of time to work on the boat. And I can do so in complete virus free isolation .And given the volume of cleaning agents I am using to remove belt dust mixed with oil, I don't think the virus could survive in the interior of WalkAbout.
Speaking of grime-has anyone put in the serpentine upgrade for the Westerbeke 40/4-108? I could use another project-after all the engine is out of the boat....
I actually hate working on boats. As much for the inherent cost of parts as much as the tearing up of my living space to do it.
That said, cleaning my engine bay with the engine out was so very satisfying. I happily spent hours and days cleaning areas that hadn't been clean since the keel was laid in 1977. I added a custom made stainless drip pan just cause I really wanted it to stay that way.
Yes, there are certain projects that are not so enjoyable. Joker valve and anything to do with it tops the list here. Clearing hair & nameless goodies from the shower sump is also right up there.
Most enjoyable on Amity are refinishing teak and stripping down, cleaning & re-lubing winches. Nothing compares to that bright silvery clinking sound of happy pawls.
I have the benefit of actually being on the boat at a marina full time as of this weekend. So far, I've read through the original manual, did a full inventory of every nook and cranny, and reorganized the extension cord from the single working shore power outlet (in the head...looks like the one in the galley was replaced a while back with a little solar charge controller). I'm also visually inspecting everything, and seeing if I can figure out what it's for (by visually inspecting, I mostly mean looking at things from the cockpit while I read Nigel Calder's Cruising Handbook (https://amzn.to/2VbanUt)). So far, I know I need to get up the main mast and fix the anchor light, and try to figure out how to get up the mizzen mast so that I can actually run a halyard so I could raise the sail. Probably gonna start the engine today, which would be cool. Triple checked the checklist, and ran through it mentally a few times. I did a few instances of lake sailing in my teens, and recently joined the Gulfstream Sailing Club. I guess the project I'd be working on if I could would be to take her sailing, under the guidance of someone who knows what they are doing. Oh, and a project that is turning out to be a much more difficult proposition than I thought, getting insurance so I can stay at this marina.
You'll do fine. Step at a time.
Jordan,
Welcome to the group. As the guy who asks endless questions of all the members it's good to have someone else to ask a few.
The boat is very easy to sail and very forgiving. Have you moved it under power yet?
Jim
Hey thanks. I'll write up an official intro in the AM. I'm really liking this boat. We haven't moved her under power (besides back and forth on the dock lines), and I haven't even started the engine yet (which I'm actually quite thankful for - there's a fresh water coolant tank in the starboard cockpit locker the manual says to check, and it's dry). Long story short (and I'll go into detail in my intro) convinced the better half to cruise with me. Moved to Florida on a whim (October), and started the research. So long as I have a job here, we'll practice for about a year, and the rough plan was to head to Isla Mujeres for a bit. From there, eventually make our way all around the northern top of South America, to Brazil. Granted, this was the rough plan pre-corona, and pre-moving on board. There is a lot to learn, so, as @S/V Amity said... Step at a time (not my forte by the way).