Refit Week 1

Hi everyone,
The first week of our refit at Boat Lagoon is drawing to a close.  Pretty good progress.  The mast is now out and planing of the hull has started.

Stripping hull back to bare fibreglass

 On Monday I pulled through the radar and VHF cables from the navstation and out onto the deck.  The radar cable won't be coming back since we've decided to remove it entirely.  It is nearly 20 years old and now seems a good time to take the radome off the mast for good.  I then emptied and dismounted the cabin table.  Scott's crew assisted me in removing a huge amount of stuff into storage in their factory.  That emptied all the cockpit lockers and all cabin lockers immediately under the deck.  All this so the deck gear can be easily removed for deck painting.

Mast partially stripped - pole track removed

On Tuesday I started disconnecting the forward fuel tank.  It needs to be removed to provide access to the main bulkhead.  I had to pull through a set of battery cables which pass over the top of the fuel tank and which otherwise obstructed its removal.  Scott's crew removed all 8 thru-hulls and the dynaplate to simplify the planing job.  I had to pull-through the depth sounder transducer cable to allow its removal from the hull.

On Wednesday I emptied both fuel tanks and entirely removed the forward tank.  The tanks were cleaner than I expected but there was a little black "gunk" at the bottom of each.  I also further loosened off the rig ready for its removal in the afternoon. Scott's guys removed the rig.

On Thursday I removed the radome, spinnaker pole track, winch bracket and clutches from the mast.  They're the items which won't be replaced after the mast is repainted.  I also decided that the mast mounted nav lights need to be replaced.  The plastic "glass" in both of them is very cloudy so they're history.

On Friday I removed the mast compression post in the cabin.  Luckily it slid out (just) without any need to jack up the deck.  Scott's guys cut away the GRP around the keel root, finding water emerged from the cut.  They then started planing the hull which exposed some blisters and hull dampness under the barrier coatings.  The hull will certainly need to dry out before the new GRP is laid up.

Ready to start on removing the keel

Over the weekend (actually a long weekend here since Monday is a public holiday here) I have a few jobs to do.  I'll remove the mast mounted lights, and perhaps other mast fittings.  I also plan to remove the radar display from the navstation, mounting our new solar panel regulator in its place.

Have a good weekend!