The move and a digging out...

My son had a couple of friends over this weekend and it seemed like the perfect time, with all that young muscle around, to pull the boat through the woods from the neighbor's property to ours. So I inflated the tires, which were completely flat and sunk up to rims in the dirt. One tire held and the other appears to have a slow leak. Luckily, it held long enough for the move. I then tied on four ropes to the trailer, one for each of my human mule team, and we drug it the 50 or so yards through the woods and around the swing set over to the drive where she now stands. Unfortunately, all hands were busy pulling, so noone had a free hand to snap a picture. I'm sure it looked rather comical.


I next set about digging out the debris. Using a rubber lipped plastic dust pan, I shoveled out over 40 gals (measured by the trash can I filled up) of debris and compost. Not wanting anything of value to go to waste, the debris was added to my compost pile where it will find its way in various flower beds around the house next year.

Here's a picture of the hull having had its decomposing contents removed.

Once cleaned out I discovered that the floor of the cockpit in the forward area at the base of the keelson had cracked and moisture had gotten in and caused the fiberglass to de-laminate (yes, I probably should have dug out some of the debris BEFORE buying it, but rest assured, I did not lay out a large sum of money for this boat). I have read a couple of articles on the repair this kind of damage, so now I guess I can put that learning to the test. When I get around to that step in the process, I will certainly, document it here.


I also noticed the remnant of the main sheet dangling from the block had become the perfect growth medium for moss. I call if "Moss on a Rope"....

I now have the trailer up on blocks and a tarp covering her stem to stern to keep out the weather. Next up will be a good scrubbing, but that will have to wait till next weekend. Back to daily work grind in the morning...

I made my second trip to West Marine for cleaning and restoration supplies (the tarp was on sale for $5!! can you beat that) and I placed an order for the needed trailer components (see invoice in the document section) from Overton's. I have not ordered form them before, but they had the best price and a good selection of trailering stuff, so I thought I would give them a try. I'll let you know how they do.

Look for another update in a week or so. Till then keep the folks along the Gulf coast impacted by Gustov, as well as those dealing with Hanna in your thoughts and prayers. If you haven't done so recently, this would be a good time to donate to the Red Cross. They can always use our help and dollars, but especially now.