Maintenance on Sea Lady

[SeaLady]

Hi all,

Sealady is still on the hard stand.
Don't ask how much extra it has cost due to the weather

I tried to load photos of my buggered toe rail but the photos are either too big or too small. I will work it out.

The old toe rail basically fell off in parts. Was hardly any wood left mainly silicone and rot and air.

New toe rail is White Beech and being fitted with luck today if rain holds off.

I will post more pictures as she starts to look better.

At the moment she is completely covered in fibreglass dust and stripped of everything than can be removed.

I have discoverd the shipwright started to fix something, he discoveres that 35 years of use has made other things old and in need of replacing / changing.

An example.
My stauntions were wobbly. So I asked him to make them not wobbly. (Thinking that this would be an easy thing)

So far this has required:
Removal of stauntions, including having to insert 'inspection ports' - read cut 2 holes in the cockpit as the underside of some especially around the stern were not accessible any other way.

Fabrication of stainless steel bits to hold them more steady.
Cleaning of the Stainless steel. - I did that bit
Discovering that they were installed on top of ply which has been soggy for 35 years. Not a good look.

The buckets of silicone that had been applied over the years had stopped water draining away properly leading to the toe rail rotting.

I am sure there will be more.

Or as John my shipwright calls it - degrees of difficulty!!

We are getting there.

Photos will come when I work out how to make them the correct size

[Troppo]

Ahhhh, she's gunna look pretty when she is finished!

Your experience is like mine with Windchaser. I started work on the v-berth reno some weeks back and still going as I keep finding connected bits which need fixing. It'll be a while before I get to do the painting I thought I was going to easily get to do.

Just think of it this way, when you have it done and done properly it should last at least another 35 years.

[Phillip]

Diana,

Just think, you are not alone!

There is another TH Mk2 here that has the same problem as you in regards to:

Fabrication of stainless steel bits to hold them more steady.
Cleaning of the Stainless steel. - I did that bit
Discovering that they were installed on top of ply which has been soggy for 35 years. Not a good look.

And yes, there is a bit of swearing going on up here too!

[SeaLady]

Small 1.JPG (67.14 KiB) Viewed 6035 times

Sealady when first pulled out of water

Small 1.JPG (67.14 KiB) Viewed 6035 times

Note lovely black river scum.

[SeaLady]

On the travel lift at Fenwicks.

Very clever machine.

[SeaLady]

Side of boat.

The join between hull and deck with buggered toe rail removed.

This join was not very even.
Years of silicon poured in to hold and fill toe rail rot.

Shipwright has had to rebuild and make this join even with Epoxy.

Also Toe Rail was only bolted on in 3-4 places each side

[SeaLady]

Old buggered toerail literally fell apart in places.

The worst bits had already been thrown out before I took photos.

[SeaLady]

New toe rail made from white beech.

The timber is very very oily.
Difficult to sand as it almost feels like it has wax in it.
The wood shavings when squeesed act a bit like playdoh.

2 coats of Evidure is being painted on the timber prior to varnishing.
Apparently it soaks into the wood and makes a hard surface to allow for the varnish to last longer.

[Troppo]

Nice looking toe rail, real sexy. Winchaser's toe rail, needs to come off and be fixed but I think there is much more wood in it than you had in yours. R u happy with the way it is looking?

[SeaLady]

She is still a work in progress but will be beautiful.
You can see that it is all going in the correct direction.

Yes the old toe rail had lots of everything except timber

Apparently this white beech is as long lasting if not moreso than teak.
Recommended for outdoor and salt water use.
So it should outlast me.