| Iota Refit |
November 21, 2007 I spent several hours working on the deck hardware. All the hardware had to go before I could begin the other stages of deck preparation. It always makes sense to me to begin at the stem, so I started there and worked my way aft, removing everything along the way--anchor roller, bow chock, vent and haswepipe, foredeck cleat, and pulpit and stanchions. In general, the hardware came apart without undue difficulty, though the plastic deck housing for the cowl vent disintegrated during removal, a victim of UV damage and silicone sealant. |
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Two of the four bolts holding the bow cleat in place fairly shattered as soon as I put a wrench to them; the internal structure of the metal was simply gone. Another item of interest I discovered was that the starboard forward stanchion tube was full of water, which leaked out after I placed the tube on deck. |
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I removed the forward hatch and related hardware, along with several small padeyes on the forward coachroof. There were four wiring connectors located about the mast step, but for now I left these in place since the wiring attached beneath was old and fragile, and I didn't want to create a whole new and unrelated slew of projects by removing them just yet. None of the connectors looked to be in particularly good condition, but often removing this sort of thing can lead to an unwanted expansion of the project scope, so it seemed prudent to wait for further instructions. I labeled and retained all the hardware and fasteners as I removed things; the hardware is slated for reuse, though with new fasteners. |
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