October 18, 2010

The weather didn't cooperate this week, so my planned tasks had to be modified a bit on the fly. During the week I continued to apply varnish to the saloon table and its flip-out leaves and applied Cetol to the teak hatches. I finally got an acceptable "final" coat on the main center part of the table - some small dust zits, but I'll never do better without a room with filtered air.


Despite the threat of rain on Sunday, I had hoped to have time to seal some cracks in the teak hatch bases with Lifecaulk. Once applied, if the joints got a little wet, it would only speed the curing of the Lifecaulk. Well, I got one of the two hatches done before the rain came down, so I had to go to Plan B. I measured the batten pockets on the mainsail so I could get some battens for it. (They were missing when I got the boat.) I removed the steering wheel using my new cheapie wheel puller. It was still stubborn, but I got it off eventually. I needed to remove the wheel to get at the leaking hydraulic steering pump. It will be an "interesting" learning experience to see if I can open up the pump and either make a new gasket or seal it with silicone 'form-a-gasket' without creating an unintended FUBAR consequence. While the wheel is off and at home, I'll clean it up, wrap the rim with small line, and if I'm ambitious, fabricate a cover for the center hub, which is now naked and ugly. I also removed a small extension of the saloon table top that wraps around the mast support and to which the table top is mounted. It should match the rest of the newly-refinished table, so home it went. Back in the shop, I sanded off the old finish and got the first coat of varnish applied before calling it a day.