More Before and After Shots

Here is the green stripe (# 8 I think) before and after:

# 17 has also been crossed off the list! No more cold showers!

We are making serious progress lately!

The Launch

The launching of the dinghy went perfectly and the Mercury engine started up as if it had never given us a moment of trouble - it must have overheard our plot to replace it!  The boat looks amazing and nothing like it did just a short while ago.

BEFORE:          
                                                     

AFTER:

What an amazing transformation the captain effected!

#10 - complete!

The lettering on the dinghy is as good as I can make it.

To Do List

This is what needs to happen before we can set out again.

1.  Bimini cover
2.  Trailer tires repaired
3.  Sand and varnish bowsprit
4.  Reinstall bobstay
5.  Repair boarding ladder
6.  Install tar paper and reattach staysail shroud
7.  Paint white rub rail on Keewatin
8.  Paint green stripe
9.  Mast boots
10. Lettering on dinghy - T/T Keewatin
11. Sand, prime and paint salon
12. Sand, prime and paint foc's'le
13. Hook up head (marine toilet)
14. Check and repair all sails
15. Bend on sails
16. Buy new hot water heater
17. Install new hot water heater
18. Fix water maker
19. Secure storage drawer faces
20. Buy all stores - this one is fun :)
21. Replace lifeline
22. Glue clock
23. Install main engine start button and alternator
24. Deal with generator oil leak
25. Acquire backup 2KW gas generator
26. Replace VHF fuse
27. Launch Boston Whaler

We managed to cross a few items off the list today but we have a lot to do in the next couple of weeks!

Weekend Work

 Much was accomplished today.  The kids helped out by polishing the brass anchor light:

I applied the final coat of varnish to the bowsprit

Everyone tidied both Keewatin and the Boston Whaler - untangling and coiling lines, removing and folding varnish covers and awnings - and Brock put our freshly painted engine back on the dinghy.

                                    

Projects for the next couple of days include making a new boarding ladder, and applying Ospho and painting the dinghy anchor.

Slow and Steady

The Boston Whaler almost complete:

Brock made new rails for it yesterday and today we installed them.  There was much measuring, discussion, drilling, screw-finding, counter-sinking and double-checking going on :)  They are made of Ipe wood (pronounced eee-pay) and are extremely strong and striking.  A new bimini top cover is being made in Forest Green Sunbrella to match everything else - the last one was lost in a strong squall that blew in one night anchored off Egg Island, Eleuthera.  This happened within days after buying the boat, so she may not want one but we are going to try again :)

Keewatin's rub rail and green stripe were sanded today in preparation for their new coats of paint.  

It is all coming together.

Little by little

The staysail boom is back where it belongs on the foredeck and looks gorgeous.

The engine is sprayed and back together - looks like new just cross your fingers that it will actually work :)

The Boston Whaler is literally hours away from completion.  Just a few more feet of rope to coax into the rub rail - sounds easy but it is more coercion than coaxing.

The bureau is painted, varnished and back down below, and the wall behind it received a coat of paint.  Slowly we are renewing the paint down below while trying to live around the area being worked on - not the best plan but the way it is working out :)

The cushions from the salon are back in place with their new trim, and the foc's'le finally received new mattresses.

All of this while Thanksgiving prep was going on - not bad!

Dinghy Day!

The Boston Whaler is looking like new!  Today it received a green stripe and bottom paint.  The black rub rail was polished and reattached.  I bought black spray paint for the engine cowling.

We are so close now!

The little - and not so little - touches

I installed the new outlet covers that the children stained and varnished today.  They look so beautiful - the contrast between the varnish and the white walls!  Sometimes its the little things that make a big difference.

But occasionally the bigger items get the glory. Our Boston Whaler is almost done!  The Awlgrip is white and shiny and flawless!  The seats are perfect.  The stripes on the oars are the icing on the cake.  The inside still needs non-skid, and we will finish off the bottom paint and the green stripe on the side and we will be done!

Painting

The staysail boom is reassembled and has its first coat of Bristol Beige.  The outlet covers received a final coat of varnish and our dinghy oars have stylish forest green stripes on their paddles and around the grip.  They look amazing, but now we have to find a special way to store them since we can't just toss them in the bottom of the boat :)  The white on everything is Awlgrip but we find the shades of color are more to our liking in Interlux.  Still on the agenda is stripping the bureau from down below, filling, staining and vanishing, varnishing, varnishing!  The dinghy - a 13 foot Boston Whaler - needs a little more sanding before it receives it's final coat of Snow White Awlgrip and . . .  a green stripe :)