Progress status: S-L-O-WThe last few weeks have seen showers off and on. My routine is to come home from work, eat dinner with the family, help bathe and ready the kiddos for bed, walk the dog, then head out to the boat and scurry under the cover and do what I can until dark. I marked my boat maintnenance achievements by counting screws/bolts that I was able to remove.
But I was really looking forward to some serious messing about this Memorial Day weekend. After some rain on Friday, the weather report looked so good I might even be able to leave the cover off overnight. I got home Friday evening, did the routine, then raced outside and finished mowing in the drizzle and twilight. I was primed and ready to go Satruday AM.
That night around 2AM, my wife got violently ill . Poor thing, she didn't get out of bed all day Saturday. And I was on kid patrol all day. They were great, we had a good day, but to put it bluntly - I was pissed. Not at anyone or anything, just pissed. (Sorry Honey and kids.) But at least the yard was mowed.
By Sunday evening she had rejoined the land of the living (and the selfish and the pissed), and I managed to get outside and tear the the coamings off. It was theraputic, until I split the first coaming while trying to pry it away from the cockpit wall where it was quite stuck with lots of butyl sealant that was used to, well, seal it.
Here is the evidence and the tools used. The first needs no explanation, even for me. The middle one is a Stanely "nine in one" tool I got a Hell-mart. It's advertised use is for scraping paint, nail removal, etc. Tim L. recommended I get one and I'm glad I did. The third is a pry bar thingy I got at Sears. It has a claw on one end and curved wide prying blade on the other. Great for serious prying - and house clapboards as well. Both of these tools are made to be wacked with a hammer and thus forced into crevices. Useful.I decided I was too ginger removing the first coaming. Granted, I was still trying to figure out how they were attached, but that's the one I ended up splitting because I pulled too much before I pried enough to break the butyl's hold. With the second one, I was merciless and pounded the prying tools in between the fiberglass and the wood, working my was forward from the aft end - came off like a charm.
Next task is to cut the stripped bolt on my aft chainplate knee so I can remove the rear chainplate. Also, I need to build some shelves in the garage so I can actually use my workbench.
Thought for the day: I've decided it is really unfair and frustrating to aspire to the manic restoration and maintenance schedules of the other folks on the forums I frequent. I had thought I was being realistic, but really, the sooner I learn to accept that I can only do what I am able and when I am able - given the very real limitations on time, the work on the boat won't be getting done any slower, but, on the contrary, I'll be able to work at it smarter, more efficiently, and inner peace (gag) will be one step closer.
