By S/V Lealea | December 10, 2015 at 05:29 PM EST |
1 comment
By the Skipper:
What a spectacular day this is turning into! I just got back from my morning walk with the pups regretting that I forgot to slip a camera into my pocket.
We set out in thick fog at about 0945 and headed for one of the trails around town. At 10:00 the sun just began to peek over the mountain to the East and the light gradually shifted from grey to gold. I turned around to look back along the trail to the NW and was startled to see the snow capped mountains across the Narrows towering above in full sunlight reflecting a golden glow back toward still misty Mitcof Island. The reflections off the ice crystals in the muskeg began to sparkle and catch my eye as I turned back toward the rising sun, now clear of the mountain but still with a halo of mist. Just then (I am not exaggerating) a flight of Canadian Geese, noisily honking to announce their passage, flew out of the fog not twenty feet over my head and disappeared into the glare of the sun.
I really need to remember to bring a camera along.
I got a stock check and quote from Edensaw Woods in Port Townsend, WA for the forest products we will not be sourcing locally. I just have to determine the exact quantities required, add a margin for error and place the order. Similarly, the resin, cloth, solvents, tools etc. we will be getting from Fisheries Supply in Seattle. Everything is readily available so there will be no backorder problems. We know that the barge runs twice a week and takes ten days to get here from Seattle so we can order after the first of January and expect everything to be here in two weeks. With luck we will avoid any materials delays as the job progresses.
Before the materials arrive, we have to shift all our belongings from the boat into storage ashore until the interior is finished. Like everything else in our life, "Weather permitting" actual work will begin with removing the interior furniture during the first half of January.
The part I am dreading is cleaning the stripped interior and preparing it for painting. But good preparation is the key to good results and the best way to deal with an unpleasant task is to plow through and do it so well you won't have to do it again any time soon. I have allocated 80 man hours to bare hull cleaning and fiberglass repair on the interior of the boat. If I have to do it by myself I will have to bust my but to finish that part of the job in two weeks.
While the time consuming task of preparing the hull for painting and receiving the new bulkheads and furniture is ongoing, the new wood will be in process of being turned into our vision of the ideal Vega accommodations. We think the pieces can be fabricated in a 40 hour week. Finishing will take another ten days. Making the boat habitable will take another week.
Eliminate the overlap of tasks and double that timeline and we are in the first week of March. I hope I have allowed enough time for this part of the refit. We will need to move back onto the boat the second week of April.
Good luck to you guys! I purchased Vega 2856 a year and a half ago, sailed her on the Great Lakes this past summer to get a sense of what I wanted to do with it, and now I'm planning a refit. Honestly, I like working on my boat almost as much as I like sailing her.
I'm planning to put a blog and share some CAD files of my work as I go. Good luck. After watching your videos, Wife and I are thinking strongly of coming to Alaska in a few years.