Inter-sail maintenance

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One of the advantages of and, hence, a key reason for keeping the boat off the mooring this year has been the greater possibility of doing maintenance.  This seems to be a way in which this season is developing: fewer sailing trips, more time to meddle.  

I didn't really plan to work on the gunwales but they were in need of attention.  One possibility was to touch up the Sadolin teak coating which has been a feature of Daisy II for the past several years.  It has served its purpose well during this time, particularly so since it looks smart and is durable, maintaining its finish thoughout a season's wear and tear on a mooring.  Other finishes had been tried prior to this, including a couple of years attempting to use Deks Olje.  It took ages to put on and always looked great for about a month but then needed patching up: that was not feasible with the boat on a mooring. However, with the boat at home, these teak oil finishes start to look attractive again. So, to start off the process, I've set about returning the wood to its formative, bare state.

The previous post showed last weekend's work:

These photos show the updated progress.

It has taken a couple of days and a great deal of scraping but, in terms of gunwales and the stern transom, we're finally there.  In due course, I will also need to work on the two grab handles on the cabin roof as well as the rudder capping and mizzen support.

I decided the stern transom needed removing to strip the wood effectively.  On removal, one of the brass holding screws sheared off and I will need to find a way of removing the bit that's still lodged in the fibreglass.  That's a bit of a pest, but I've ordered a screw extractor kit and read up on what to do...

The next post will hopefully feature this and the new teak oil coating I've ordered, together with the reason for using it.

In the mean time, it has finally been time to make more progress with the Hopwood Memorial boarding ladder.  I constructed a template for this over winter.  Recently, I found a decent piece of 12mm exterior plywood and thought I'd use this to construct the ladder.  If it goes well, I may find a piece of superior quality marine ply and do a proper job.  The photo shows the two side hook pieces cut out and hanging in the place I intend to use the ladder (for which the boat needed to be winched back on its trailer).  Next job is to cut out the central step piece and start to shape and sand down the wood, prior to assembling the whole.

At the moment, I haven't decided on the length so, in keeping it this long, hope to keep my options open!