Making an Old Boat a New-Old Boat - 2011
From the time we purchased Moontide, as Gabrielle puts it, after a year or so in 'honeymoon' bliss, the boat 'revealed' herself to us in stages, blatantly demanding our attention for repairs. The beginning, and most dramatic event, was in the Summer of 2011, when the top 2' of main mast broke off while under sail in light winds. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but over 16' of the mast was found to have dry rot!
A Close call...
Unfortunately, it was while our dear friend Hans was kneeling on the spreaders to release the trapped sails that Michael noticed the 2' crack in the mast growing just below where he perched. Yipe!
With the masts away...
With the deteriorated state the main mast was in, we decided it was a good idea to replace both it and the mizzen mast on the boat. and a 2 month search began...
During this time, Michael noticed a "soft spot" on the cabin top. Again, with the masts gone, it was an ideal time to explore what was under the fiberglass shell. So Gabrielle took on the project with vigor! She Dug... And she found more rot.
So I joined her in the search.
We dug and we dug... Until the bow of the boat was... gone!
For mid November in Oregon, this was a chilling prospect, to say the least!
We built a "conestoga wagon" over the boat to keep the rain out
We removed all the old & corroded chainplates, painted and insulated the fwd cabin and forepeak, rebuilt the deck frames and rewired the bow.
That kept us busy through the New Year..... |
Bringing the masts down
Despite the "clean" look white epoxy paint gives wooden masts, it also hides a myriad of sins. The main had to be clamped with steel bars at Danish Boatworks to keep it from crumbling to pieces when being lifted off the boat.
Gabrielle began to dig.
And she found dry rot. I told her to follow it to the end. So, she dug some more...
But then the dry rot kept coming!
It extended down the cabin wall to the deck, and across to the bulwarks, reaching to the ends of the deck frames. There seemed to be no end of it!
We wasted no time starting to rebuild...
Space is always a premium on our little boat. With our bedroom/library missing, things became really COZY in the main cabin.
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