Back to Work - Finally

It's been hard regaining our momentum, but we are back at work.

Our SeaCamper has a new floor, and the windows are reinstalled. We have one leak, in the rear port window. That was the first one we reinstalled, and we didn't quite have our system down yet. I'm hoping to get down to the boatyard later today to see if I can see where the leak is, and squeeze a bit of sealant into the gap from both the inside and outside. I suspect one of the little wooden dowels that we used as spacers stuck all the way through the sealant and actually created a channel through to the inside. The spacers are important to make sure there is a good bed of sealant between the aluminum window-frame and the fiberglass of the boat. If you just squirt in the sealant and then screw the windows up tight then you squeeze out the sealant. With the extremely thin and fragile seal that results, the first flex of the fiberglass breaks the seal, and the leak returns.

I also need to take the needle nose pliers down, and make sure all of the little wooden sticks we used for spacers are all the way out. As soon as that's done, another quarter turn on all the screws that hold the windows in should tighten the windows up against their 1/4 inch rubber gaskets, and we should be ready to move to the next step in restoration.

The new floor and transom were installed last winter, and they look great. With the new floor, and the windows installed, she's starting to look like a boat again, not an abandoned wreck.

Here is a of photo of the interior with the new floor and rear bulkhead in place. This shot shows the new transom (the exterior steps are doing temporary duty indoors).

The light spot to the right of the photo is the old blackwater discharge, through which you can pump your sewage overboard. We sealed it up, but haven't yet brushed on the gelcoat outside.

My next little job (after tracking down my last window leak) is to install new through hull fittings that drain the trough around the engine compartment and direct the water out through the transom. My 1 7/8" hole saw is going to get quite a workout cutting through the new transom with its two sheets of 3/4 inch plywood, a layer of MAS Epoxy between them and a nice thick layer of fiberglass on the inside of the transom. Good time to have a drill with a cord.

After that's done, it's time to install the new plumbing system and get the shower and head back into shape. I'd like to have plumbing pretty well wrapped up and the electrical system roughed in before we need to re-wrap her for the fall.