110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
Patience | Monday, May 18, 2015
The first day of a new project is typically one of acquaitance and early preparations, and this one was no different. To begin, I moved the boat into the shop, where I could start going through the boat with project list in hand to get a better sense of things.
I had a list of mostly smaller and maintenance-type items to take care of, along with a couple potentially larger jobs that, if they occurred at all, would happen as part of a later phase of the project. To begin, however, the first order of business was to clear out the cabin, which was full of stored sailbags and in some disarray.
The decks were in fair condition, with lightweight nonskid on most surfaces; replacement of the nonskid was a possible job for a later time, but not now.
The hull was in fair condition and required some maintenance, but it looked like it could be cleaned up adequately. There'd be some work here in the coming weeks.
After clearing out the cockpit, and removing the boom to get it out of the way, I pulled out the sails and stacked them mostly on the foredeck, since I didn't have any work planned there--nor any major dusty, dirty work--and this would save the need to haul them up and down the ladder and find somewhere else to store them. Inside, I stacked all the cushions up in the forward cabin, where they'd be out of the way for most of the intended work.
One of the jobs on the list was to properly install and plumb an automatic bilge pump. The one currently in place was wired haphazardly, and its discharge hose ran through the companionway (through a custom hole in one of the swashboards) and into one of the cockpit scuppers; a portion of it can be seen in these photos.
The pump wasn't mounted, so for now I just pulled it out and got it out of the way pending its reinstallation later. This also gave me access to the slim bilge sump so I could remove the accumulated water there, and in a few other places throughout the boat that I'd noticed. As per usual, once I'd dried out the sump water continued to creep in from nearby, so I'd keep mopping that out as needed to get things nice and dry..
Battery and portable solar panel replacement were on the list, so I removed the existing battery (its tray had water to be mopped out also), and completely removed the existing bilge pump wiring and solar panel wiring. The plywood platform on which the battery rested was delaminating, and might require replacement.
Meanwhile, I got a sense of the jobs ahead so I could be more efficient when I turned to them shortly. But with the end of the day approaching, it looked like an easy job to remove the old two-burner stove from the galley--one of the items on the list--so I did, and it was. I'd clean up the area later, and consult with the owner over other prospects for the space.
Total Time Billed on This Job Today: 5.25 hours
50°, overcast. Forecast for the day: Increasing sun, 70s
