Spring Maintenance

Haulout on a perfect early Spring morning:

 

Bow Repair

– we ran into a dock and a floating log in the past month.

First, I cut out all cracked and splintered fiberglass and wood:

Taped the area and made a little work space:

Sealed the wood with epoxy, then filled the rest with epoxy-based filler:

Took a little break after all that work:

Sanded smooth and washed with solvent:

Painted it black:

Painted the bottom paint:

Changed the lower unit oil:

She’s ready to start the cruising season!

Lead Ballast

I’ve had 300 pounds of sand in the bow for the last few months. Before that, she floated almost six inches higher forward than designed, and it always bothered me.  I shopped around for lead to replace the sand, and found a guy near Gig Harbor that sold lead at less than half the price the local companies wanted ($.80 per pound vs. $1.80).  It was a fun trip to the country to pick it up.

So, here’s 300 pounds of lead next to 300 pounds of sand.  The lead is just a bit more compact. The bars are small enough to fit beneath the forward sole, out of the way.