Work has been keeping me very busy. By Wednesday evening I had already worked 7 hours OT.
Home well after dark (this daylight time shit sucks
) every night meant that nothing happened on the boat this week.
But then. Weekend.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, a bigger holiday than Christmas in the USA. But I was on call, so we decided that we would treat it as a normal day because Murphy says that as soon as we sit down to a nice meal the phone will ring and I will have to go work. So delicious spaghetti and mince for supper.
Friday I had taken the day off. I just needed a break. So first thing Friday morning I took my work van back to the shop, worked on a quote that needed to get done, and headed home with my utility trailer. The wheel bearings on it were sounding a little rough so I needed to redo them. I also wanted to see if the free 13" wheels that I had scored would fit.
The wheel bearings were quote shot. I had used this trailer to launch my plastic bass boat in salt water a few times, and that had caused some rust. So I got two sets of new bearings at the auto spares shop (O'Reilleys Auto Spares) and fitted them. It's so much easier when you have the right tools
Then I took the trailer back to the shop and on the way home I picked up some 2x4's at the Home Depot. I had roughly designed a couple of trestles that I would need to support the Boston Whaler when I got it off the trailer. Back home I cut them up and assembled the two trestles.
But then it was late afternoon, and I needed to get the braai going... for OUR thanksgiving dinner
Mrs Zog made pap & sous, and some lekker veggies, including butternut
in the oven. I braaied some lamb chops (still some that Big Oil had sent us - thanks again buddy, they were frikken DELICIOUS!). And I drank a couple of pirate juices...
Today (Saturday) I got to work getting the trailer out from under the boat. The crane I had bought a few weeks ago came in very handy.
Then I needed to roll the boat over so I could do the repairs on the hull and the keel.This was a big job, because a mistake could either lead to injury or death, or even worse, damage to the boat
With clever use of the crane, straps, and levers, I eventually got it done.
Now the boat is upside down on the trestles, and it's really solid.
If anything, the trestles are just a little high, but I can still reach the keel amidships if I stand on my little crate. I'm hoping that the extra height will allow sufficient sunlight to prevent the grass dying.
At last I was able to give the hull a proper inspection. There is some keel-rash, but nothing too bad.
An old repair is coming loose. The PO didn't even grind the old gelcoat away, just sanded a bit and stuck some glass down.
I will grind this open properly, then repair it properly, then the hull will get a fresh coat of Marine Paint...
The rest of the damage is just general wear-and-tear type stuff. Small chips in the gelcoat, and a minor crack (probably from grounding the boat) next to the keel.
The glass around the bow-eye also has some damage, so I'll be removing the metalwork and fixing this propely.
But that was enough for the boat for one day. So I turned my attention to the trailer...
With the boat finally off the trailer I could inspect the wooden bunks...
Spot the mistake...
Yup... that is grass you can see beneath the carpeting on the wooden bunk
The wooden bunk had completely rotted away
The other bunks were not much better
The two long bunks that support the sides of the hull were not as bad, but I removed them as well anyway. The bolts holding them were getting a bit rusted... well, one anyway
This trailer is actually pretty fancy. It has both rollers and bunks. There is a lever at the front that you pull back on, which lifts up the rollers a little bit. This makes getting the boat on-and-off the trailer very easy. Then when the boat is in position you release the lever and the rollers drop down again and the boat is supported on the wooden bunks that are covered in special carpet. This gives you the best of both worlds in a boat trailer.
Two of the rollers were completely jammed up, so I removed them. With some difficulty
They were very badly corroded.
I will be replacing both of these rollers when the budget allows.
But in the meantime I popped into Home Depot and grabbed two planks (2x6's) for the long bunks. And new galvanized bolts and nuts and washers.
These I cut to size (I added an extra foot of length in the front) and chamfered the ends, then drilled the new holes and bolted them in place. I still need to use some 2x4's for the smaller bunks. but I'll do them when I get some of the special marine carpet for them.
And that was my day. Apart from late afternoon I went down to Turkey Creek to see if I could get a fishy... but alas. Maybe tomorrow
Thanks for reading y'all
Topic: Life in America - I made the move. (Read 1286100 times)
