Back Again

It has been a long time since my last boating blog entry but the next several posts will give you an idea of what has kept us preoccupied.  Since returning from our wonderful visit in Australia we worked out businesses to completion then started in earnest in making Blue Moon the boat we envisioned when we bought her.  She is a good solid boat with many nice upgrades.  With the type of cruising we hope to do, we wanted a bit more strength in some critical areas and we wanted her to look her best in visiting ports.  I'll start in the most logical spot, at the beginning of our efforts in May.

The stanchions are a key to safety,especially in seas.  They hold the lifelines that can keep you from falling overboard in a sudden roll.  David pulled all the bases off, added a reinforcing layer of fiberglass and thick stainless backing plates.  They are now quite solid which is reassuring in case you get thrown against one in a storm.  At the same time, he cut away a soft spot in the deck, replaced the core and repaired the deck skin.  Those few words seem simple but it took a solid month in the sometimes brutal heat.  He did a magnificent job and the  deck no longer has any give.  On a positive note, we had assumed the sponginess was due to a compromised deck core but there was no sign of water intrusion or rot.  The best guess of our expert resources was "tired fiberglass".  I wasn't much help during this phase as I had sinus surgery that really limited my ability and energy.  I've tried to make up for that since.

This is one of the 10 bases that were reworked and beefed up.  At the same time, he repaired a lot of dings and divots in the deck.

You can see that it was a very large patch.

The patch all smoothed out.

One of the projects was to put on new nonskid.  To make this right, he filled all the old nonskid and sanded it smooth.  That is the red colored area.  As the name implies, it is a surface finish that keeps you from skidding around a wet deck.

 

We have wonderful friends who allowed us to bring the boat to their dock for the next phase of renewal. All  the dings and dents of a long life were filled and faired.