July Renovations = Hell.
Demolished and removed the rear & engine room bulkhead, sliding glass doors and the cockpit deck. Then we sawzalled the tops off all of the stringers. Next we dug out all of the remaining wood in the stringers which was chewed up and spit out by the termites. Then the whole bilge was then ground, scrubbed and prepped. The two back bulkheads were cut and installed. The stringers were stuffed with a ceramic filler and then the tops were glassed and ground, ready for paint. A new window and door was installed. The whole bilge was painted white. The cockpit deck was laid up on a rocker table, upside down. The deck needed to have the perfect camber and gutters were designed for proper drainage on the ginourmas hatches. All of these projects were completed outside in sunny Florida in July, with an average temperature of 101 degrees cooling off at night to the high 80's. We lived and worked on the boat eating, breathing, wearing, crying, drinking and sweating fiberglass dust.
Thank goodness thats done.
October and November was a big push to get the Mainship ready for relocation, with a goal of getting to Key Largo, Fl by December 15th. October projects included framing and laying the salon floor, installing the water heater, the water tank and two fuel tanks. We also dropped in a new engine, had a custom exhaust built in California and needed to throw a few coats of bottom paint on the new 17' Twin Vee. The boat was towed north to Cortez for hull out where we fitted the new exhaust, replaced all of the thru hulls, removed the trim tabs and replaced the transducer. An anchor roller was installed on the bow. We also replaced the shaft, packing gland, propeller, all steering and added an auto pilot. We arrived in Key Largo 2 days ahead of schedule and twice over budget.
We love our boat!
Demolished and removed the rear & engine room bulkhead, sliding glass doors and the cockpit deck. Then we sawzalled the tops off all of the stringers. Next we dug out all of the remaining wood in the stringers which was chewed up and spit out by the termites. Then the whole bilge was then ground, scrubbed and prepped. The two back bulkheads were cut and installed. The stringers were stuffed with a ceramic filler and then the tops were glassed and ground, ready for paint. A new window and door was installed. The whole bilge was painted white. The cockpit deck was laid up on a rocker table, upside down. The deck needed to have the perfect camber and gutters were designed for proper drainage on the ginourmas hatches. All of these projects were completed outside in sunny Florida in July, with an average temperature of 101 degrees cooling off at night to the high 80's. We lived and worked on the boat eating, breathing, wearing, crying, drinking and sweating fiberglass dust.
Thank goodness thats done.
October and November was a big push to get the Mainship ready for relocation, with a goal of getting to Key Largo, Fl by December 15th. October projects included framing and laying the salon floor, installing the water heater, the water tank and two fuel tanks. We also dropped in a new engine, had a custom exhaust built in California and needed to throw a few coats of bottom paint on the new 17' Twin Vee. The boat was towed north to Cortez for hull out where we fitted the new exhaust, replaced all of the thru hulls, removed the trim tabs and replaced the transducer. An anchor roller was installed on the bow. We also replaced the shaft, packing gland, propeller, all steering and added an auto pilot. We arrived in Key Largo 2 days ahead of schedule and twice over budget.
We love our boat!
