Boat projects, boat projects
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We are finally starting our blog about our adventures aboard our Columbia 34, called Green Panther! We thought it might be good to begin with why it has taken us so long to start this blog... |
Our Green Panther is a good old boat and there are a lot of things which need to be upgraded, so we have a lot of boat projects on our to do list.
Some projects are easy, which means we just have to find the time to do them. Other projects are more complicated, which means reading books, magazines, searching internet forums, and then just going for it. The third category are boat projects which are so sophisticated we think it's better to hire an expert to do it; those are the projects for which you pay several boat bucks (note: boat bucks is a boater’s term for $1000 bills). Here are some examples:
When you buy a good old boat, there are a lot of projects ahead (from the "Epoxy Book - www.systemthree.com)
A new mattress
We searched a long time for a good mattress. We learned that memory foam sleeps kind of hot which is especially bad when you are planning to go to the tropics. So latex was the way to go, but it was out of our budget, until we found the solution. We picked up a king latex mattress from IKEA and an electric turkey carving knife. The mattress was a beast to get home, but we eventually managed to drag it all the way onto the dock. We then cut it to fit our triangular v-berth. And yes, we used the turkey knife for that, and it worked like a charm ;-)
Alena stuffing the mattress in our car
Plumbing
By far my least favorite job, but it needs to be done if we want freshwater coming out of our faucets and to use the restroom - the nautical term for which is "head".
Working in the head
Bright work
Wood needs a lot of maintenance, and if it doesn't get the attention it needs it will turn ugly and gray pretty soon. So we took the hatch apart, varnished it with several layers and screwed it back together - it came out pretty good.
Mounting the hatch after varnishing
Cleaning out the bilge
The bilge is the lowest part inside a boat, and everything ends up there at some point: seawater, freshwater, oil leaks, dirt . . . you name it. So before running new electrical wires, I thought it would be a good idea to clean and paint the bilge.
The bilge before cleaning and painting
Cleaning out the storage unit
Okay this is not really boat work, but nevertheless it is on our to do list. We can store some stuff at Alena's parents but most of it has to go. Does anybody need a weed whacker?
Alena getting excited about cleaning out the storage unit ;-p
The engine
Not my strong point, but we are learning something new every time we have to work on it. Like last Monday when it would overheat and refuse to take in the cooling water. After working on it for a day and a night, replacing the impeller and flushing every hose, we finally figured out that the water intake was partially blocked. It was 6am by then - wow that was fun. :-)
Chris fighting with Green Panthers engine
Refurbishing and painting the deck
Green Panther's deck needs quite some TLC, meaning sanding, filler, primer, and paint.
The bubble top just painted
Cleaning up the cabin
Obviously we have not had time to do this yet
Messy cabin
Rigging
And our latest project is replacing our standing rigging (stainless steel cables that hold up the mast), which ended up being one of those sophisticated projects because of our departure schedule (we don't have several weeks to figure out how to do it ourselves). We are currently de-masted at Svendsen's boat yard, but hoping to be back in Emeryville by Saturday morning!
Finding the time
The only way this works is because I can now work full time on the boat, since I quit my job last month (Alena is still working until the end of September). Well there are still some science projects I am involved in, but most of my time is now reserved for boat work.
x - Janey (bcwe) helping me to clean out my office on my last day of work
*bcwe: best co-worker ever