April 18 – Work, Work, Work

Olverson’s Lodge Creek Marina

"Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results." ~Willie Nelson

Just a quick post to update everyone on all the fun we've been having since we returned to the boat two weeks ago. We both have been working very hard on projects, putting in 8 to 10 hour days, but Stan has really been the one doing the hard work. I took a little break to return to Pennsylvania to spend Easter with our family while he stayed behind and refinished the salon floor.

The good news is we can see the end in sight and will be ready to cruise soon. By the weekend we should be done with the major projects...our first reward will be to move out of the shed and into the light. Living on a boat in a barn isn't a lot of fun...we need sunshine. 

Day Five: Put snaps (72) on two new sets of front window covers, finished repairing deck, fixed dock box, removed anchor chain to measure and replace and second coat of Cetol on name boards.  

Day Six: Third coat of Cetol on name boards, sanded and painted Kiwi Grip on deck that had been repaired, touched up a few others places with Kiwi Grip, changed fuel and oil filters, changed the engine oil, painted the deck chairs, painted Kiwi Grip on boarding stairs, polished some stainless, waxed more of the upper deck and added a coat of Cetol gloss to back window frame. 

Day Seven: Finished polishing all the stainless, wiped upper deck with Methyl Ethyl Ketone to remove old wax and dirt before waxing, applied first coat of Cetol gloss on name boards, caulked around a few windows, scrapped old paint off mast and waxed more of the upper deck. 

Day Eight: Second coat of Cetol gloss on name boards, sanded salon floor and applied first coat of Interlux Goldspar 60 Satin. 

Day Nine: Third coat is Cetol gloss on name board, second coat of Interlux Goldspar 60 Satin on salon floor and waxed part of upper deck. 

Day Ten: Third coat of Interlux Goldspar 60 Satin on floor and waxed more of the boat. 

Day Eleven: Fourth coat of Interlux Goldspar 60 Satin on floor and waxed more of the boat. These days are beginning to all sound alike...I'm thinking the caption needs a day off. 

Day Twelve: Serviced the generator, waxed more of the boat and cleaned the shower sump

Day Thirteen: The floor looks amazing but the sanding left dust everywhere so today I began cleaning...everything inside and outside of cabinets. Stan taped off the teak on the flybridge and then sanded it in preparation for a coat of Cetol. He also sanded the mast and windless and applied a coat of primer.

Before and after pictures of the deck

Before and after pictures of part of the waxing 

Window covers to block the sun completely

Window covers to add privacy and block direct sun...these are better because we can still see out, but when it's hot the others keep out more heat. 

The floor after Stan stripped off the old finish...I wish I had a before picture. Our floor is made of teak and holly, but we've never been able to make out the lighter holly stripes...until now. 

The floor after one coat of Interlux Goldspar 60 Satin 

Just a little dust...on and in everything. 

The floor under our stove always looked wonderful...almost like new, now the rest of the floor matches. I love it.

All of this stuff was in the cabinet under the sink. It's amazing how much "stuff" fits on this boat.