Today was the last day of the long weekend, gloriously sunny, and I was still tethered to the land by my job. However, this didn’t stop me from bringing Blue Opal alongside for some more maintenance work.
First up was tightening the bolts in the Seago canister. A stubby screwdriver just barely fits inside the canister, but it did the trick. The canister shouldn’t go anywhere now, and there’s room next to it for the canister for the horseshoe.
Second was finishing off the lacing for the dodgers. They’re both laced on with cord now, and the zip ties have been removed.
Third was fixing the starboard locker lid. It looks like over time, impacts on the locker surround have resulted in the fiberglass getting damaged. The construction of the lid appears to be a pair of formed pieces, joined together along the underside, but with a void between them for lightness (and I wouldn’t say this locker lid is light). Some West System and high density filler later, I’ve got a bonding agent between the two pieces of the lid, and multiple clamps applied to enable the bond to form. I think a little bit of foam along the edge will help absorb any future impacts, and shouldn’t prevent the lid from closing.
Also had a great conversation with the owner of Marguerite; he’s looking for a new caretaker (not me, alas – I think plastic boats are enough maintenance, and cannot imagine the maintenance level for a boat built in 1896), and we had a wide ranging conversation on wood scrapers, Marguerite, sailing around the world in Sandefjord, and more.
All told, a very pleasant afternoon.
