A Bit Overwhelmed

I really haven't had to interview for many jobs. Most of the time I either knew the company and owner well or they knew me and approached me for a position. But the few times I have had an interview, one of the questions almost always asked was "what did I consider one of my major weaknesses." Right now that weakness has reared it's ugly head big time and I am feeling the effects. I never have to hesitate to answer the question because I know the answer all too well. I have always had a tendency to try and do too much at one time and start another project before I finished the previous one. After this weekend, that weakness has taken on a whole new meaning.

Where do I start? I have finally ordered our new autopilot and decided on the Garmin GHP-10 after doing lots of research. I found the best price for the Core Pack at the GPS Store. But their price for the 2.0L pump was higher than I found it at Anchor Express and The GPS Store didn't seem interested in price matching. All of the parts arrived promptly, so I immediately began to plan the layout and started mounting some of the system.

In the meantime, a friend in the marina had offered to help me lower the mast so I could work on the wiring and, more importantly, give it a good paint job. We took it down about the same time as the autopilot arrived. I was in the process of removing all of the hardware and rigging, and re-running the TV coax and wiring for the spreader lights. The mast needed a good sanding and priming before the paint could go on.

Our transmission has been on the list of things that must be done for quite some time. A leak in a seal or gasket has been a bother almost since we bought the boat. We've tolerated it to this point because the leak has been slight and a drip pad under the transmission has been sufficient. We do check the fluids regularly and top off as needed, but this had to be fixed before our next long trip. Well, wouldn't you know it. The planets aligned and the universe said, it's time. Our mechanic could get us on his schedule, the transmission shop wasn't busy and could get to it right away, and we had no plans to go anywhere soon. Besides, hurricane season has started in south Florida and we want the boat ready to move if we need to. So out came the transmission and while it's out, I want to replace the engine mounts, clean up, and paint around the compartment and engine parts while everything is open.

Ahhhh, but we're not done yet. I have been negotiating with the folks at Hard To Top for a replacement hardtop for our flybridge. The canvas bimini was not looking very good and we much prefer a hardtop to canvas. Our sailboat had a hardtop that we built ourselves and we really, really liked it. We finally agreed on a price and it was fabricated and shipped to us a couple of days ago. So Susan and I removed the canvas bimini and began installing the hardtop.

So that's where we are today and why I feel a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I have to stop and prioritize each project if I plan to get them all done in a reasonable time. I do work on each for a couple of hours each day. The mast has been painted and I am in the process of re-installing all of the hardware. It should go back up in a few days and that project will be done. The rest will be much further along by the end of the week. I need to start on relocating the house battery bank so there will be room for the generator, which is another install. But I've promised myself that I will not start anything else until all of these projects are completed. Yep, I promised myself.

Oh, and we just changed Satellite TV providers and the new satellite dish is larger, so I had to reinforce the Track-It system to handle the larger dish. A minor additional distraction. As we get these all completed we will post the details, so stay tuned.

WiFi on the Boat - Part 3

It has been a while since we have posted any additional information on our highly successful WiFi set up on the boat. To really see how we have arrived at this point, you need to go back and read our previous posts starting with Part 1 and then  Part 2. Our original WiFi set up worked great right up until the day we took it down and switched over to this new system. We have been using this for some time now, but I am just getting around to posting the how to and our results to date. The reason for the change was nothing more than seeing what was new and trying out this system because we have had a lot of positive feedback from other boaters. Our experience has been very positive although not quite the "wow" we expected.

For the last few years, we have heard a lot of chatter about the newer Ubiquiti Bullet that cruisers and boaters have been raving about. From Mexico to the Bahamas to New England, everyone has been posting excellent WiFi access with the Bullet so we just had to see what all the fuss was about. It was a difficult decision because our Engenius adapter was still providing us with all of the access we needed and one of my top rules is, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But curiosity finally got the best of me and we purchased the Bullet M2 HP. A big plus was that the antenna for our original set up would work on the Bullet, so this part did not have to be replaced. Any money saved is always a good thing. The Bullet screws directly on to the antenna so no cable connection is required. The mounting components that we changed early on and have been using for years works great with the new hardware.

The Bullet fit perfectly in the PVC pipe mounting we have been using. This mount helps to overcome one of the problems with the Bullet - having it outside in the weather. It provides a waterproof housing that will keep moisture intrusion out of the cable. Unlike the Engenius adapter, the Bullet is attached via a Cat5 cable instead of an active USB. In this photo, we test fitted the Bullet and antenna to the cap to be sure the hole size did not have to be changed.

Once it was clear that everything would fit, a bit of sealant around the hole where the antenna passes through, and around the cap and bottom, made everything perfectly water tight. With the Cat5 cable, there is no restriction as to the length, so we carefully measured how much was needed to run from the mount, through the boat and to the computer. The computer is in our forward cabin where we have set up our "office." We do have another computer at the helm station and we want to be able to access that with WiFi also. A little more about that later.

The mounting looks clean and unobtrusive. In this location, it has done well for us, but on other boats, another location might work better. We have found that the higher up it is mounted, the better reception for the access stations. I also recommend that outdoor Cat5 cable be used or at least cover the cable to provide additional UV protection. Our cable runs down the bimini frame, into a vent near the bottom of the outside of the flybridge, down a wire run to the lower helm station and then into the forward cabin, starboard side.

The hardware installation is not quite done yet. Unlike the Engenius, the Bullet gets its power through a POE (power over ethernet) device. Be sure it is a 12-volt device since they can be purchased in various voltages. There are many sources for a 12-volt POE, including Pasadena Networks where we purchased our Bullet. The POE can be either 12-volt powered and wired directly to the boat's DC system or 120-volt powered, which means it will run off of the shore power, generator or inverter. The installation is simple. The incoming Cat5 goes into the input side and another Ethernet cable comes from the outlet to the computer, or as we did, a separate router.

Since we have multiple computers, we want to be able to access the WiFi on either computer and not have to plug and unplug them. We also want to be able to use the computers anywhere on the boat and not be restricted to the forward cabin. We chose the Cradlepoint Router, once again because of positive feedback from users. It isn't one of the least expensive routers, but we have found it to be of excellent quality. Our choice is the MBR 900 and it turned out to be a good choice for us.

Now here's where it gets tricky. Our Engenius was pretty much plug and play. If you are at all intimidated by setting up computer hardware, you might consider a couple of choices. These systems can be purchased, for a great deal more money, already put together and set up to run when you get them. Or you can use a system like our Engenius that is very simple to set up. There is a fair amount of extra effort to get the Bullet set up and running and even more to to add the router to the system.

If you still want to go for it, the next step is to set up the Bullet. An excellent how to can be found here and here. Although the second link is for a Nanostation, it works for the Bullet. The Cat5 cable needs to be connected from the Bullet to the POE and then directly to the ethernet connection on your computer. The POE must have power, either from your DC or AC system, in order to do any set up. Once you have followed all of the instructions for the Bullet set up and confirmed that it is working, the Router needs to be set up to work with the Bullet.

Rather than make this a very, very long posting, I will refer you to a good set up how to for the CradlePoint router. If you had no problem setting up the Bullet, you won't have a problem setting up the router. These instructions are specifically for the CradlePoint, so if you are using another brand, you are on your own. Once the router is set up, the Cat5 cable from the POE is connected to the input for the router. You computer is then set up to connect via WiFi directly from your router. Be sure and enable your security for the router and choose a very difficult password so no one else can log in to your network. And that's it. Hopefully all went well and you are blogging like mad.

And now for our review. We've been using this system for about two years now. We find it to be an improvement over the Engenius system, BUT not a major improvement. If we had to stay with our original set up, I wouldn't have the slightest problem with that. We do seem to pick up a few more access points ON OCCASION than we did with the previous system. But most of them are secure access points so we don't really have more connections. We have received signals from access points at two miles away or more with the Engenius and don't seem to do better with the Bullet. Perhaps once we are cruising in locations where we have not been before and where there are weaker signals to work with, the improvements might show up better. In the end, time will tell. For now it works fine and we have the old system as a back up should we have a failure. I feel very comfortable and confident with both systems. Whether you should upgrade is a decision you will have to make. If your current system is not living up to your expectations, then by all means upgrade. If you are starting from scratch, I highly recommend that you go with the Bullet. Good luck and stay safe.

And be sure to read our post on securing your WiFi connections.

Road Trip And A Short Cruise

We're often asked to give presentations to boaters during their organization's meetings and rendezvous. While we lived in Maryland for two years, I had to travel to Florida often to give these presentations, and now that we have moved back to Florida, of course I was asked to be a speaker at the AGLCA Rendezvous in Norfolk, Virginia. Susan and I recently joined the AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association) in preparation for our Great Loop adventure, which by the way will begin in just six or seven short months, if all goes as planned. My presentation for the Rendezvous was to be cruising the Delaware Bay, New Jersey Coast and the Hudson River. Everyone seem enthused and very interested, and we received lots of positive comments afterward.

Our unofficial count of the members was over 100 and most would be making this part of the Great Loop trip for the first time. There were a few that had done the trip in the past, and many had some good questions on issues and navigational information to make the passage safely. Much of the presentation was on the challenges and how to overcome them rather than the Chamber of Commerce version of where to stop and what to do. We left them to research that type of information in their favorite cruising guides. We brought a Power Point presentation showing charts, distances, hazards and channels along the route. Susan prepared most of the charts for the presentation and did an excellent job.

Afterward, the presentation lunch was served and it gave the members time to have a great meal, discuss their plans and ask more questions. The Rendezvous was held at the Sheraton Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, Va. The food was very good and so were the accommodations, if not a bit on the expensive side. We had to pay for parking and internet service separately, something that has always been included at every other hotel in which we have stayed. The location is great and we had a view of the anchorage at Hospital Point in Norfolk from a different perspective.

After the presentation is always a good time to meet members one on one and try to answer any additional questions they might have. This is always my favorite part, especially since we are the newbees in the crowd and many of these folks have been members for many years. It also gives us the chance to meet folks that we will see along the waterways when we begin our own trip. It's also a great feeling when we can come away knowing that we have helped our fellow boaters, even in some small way. It's our pleasure any time we can share our years of experience on the water.

The time flew by and we found ourselves back in South Florida on Beach House and not yet ready to get back to work. Our friends at the marina were planning a trip to Panther Key, one of the many small Keys in the 10,000 Islands area where we currently reside. The trip was planned for the weekend we returned so we made the decision to join them for Saturday and Sunday. We have to leave and come back to the marina at high tide because of several shallow spots in the entrance channel. It worked out well since high tide on Saturday was about Noon and 1 PM on Sunday.

A houseboat, a sailboat and a trawler anchor off a beach... No, this isn't the beginning of a joke, but it was the sight that most boaters saw as they passed by during the weekend. The trip from the marina to Panther Key is a short one, but it winds through and past many beautiful mangrove-lined channels and bays that are all part of the National Wildlife Preserve. We have really enjoyed living in this area and this was our first chance to get out and enjoy the scenery on the boat since we arrived from Fort Myers. Our friends on their houseboat and another acquaintance on their sailboat had come down on Friday and had their anchorage spots picked out. There was still plenty of room for us and the water depths allowed us all to anchor very near the beach.

It was wonderful to get away from the dock and be out on the hook again. We would much prefer to be anchored than tied to a dock anytime. It's difficult to explain the feeling of greater freedom when you are secured by your own anchor with no one sitting on the other side of the finger pier. Given the choice, we would probably almost never put into a slip. But necessity makes it something we have to do for now, and will have to do from time to time while cruising. But when we are cruising, not speeding from one location to another, we usually reserve marina stops for re-provisioning,  laundry, washing the boat and getting out of very bad weather. Even the bad weather is more comfortable for us if we are anchored in a protected location.

One small project we were anxious to try out was the new electric dinghy winch that was installed on the mast. This is a compact but powerful 12-volt winch rated at 2,000 pounds, much more than the 100+ pound dinghy. This is an addition to the small crane we installed to lift the outboard. Because of recurring back problems, we wanted Susan to be able to launch and use the dinghy and outboard without any help from me if necessary. This new addition proved to be the perfect final piece of equipment.

The winch itself is mounted on the back side of the mast just under the boom. It has a handheld control that will reach the lower deck, and a short attachment of line between the dinghy and the winch cable makes this the most logical placement. The proper size wiring had to be run from the winch to the power supply under the flybridge helm station. Since the radar cable was already run to the same area, the winch wiring just followed the radar cable. The winch is through bolted with 3-inch stainless bolts through the mast and the backing mount for the winch.

I really didn't want to run wiring all the way to the main electrical panel because of the logistics and the need for such large wires to avoid major voltage drops. The flybridge has pretty heavy power cables run to provide power to the bridge so all that was needed was a circuit breaker. The winch now has its own independent circuit breaker mounted in a plastic electrical box with a cover plate, cut to fit the breaker and a breaker face plate. The buss bar was installed to attach the winch wiring, but also to clean up the wiring under the flybridge helm station. It always amazes me what previous owners have done to boats.

The switch is mounted just inside the door under the flybridge helm station where it's easy to get to, but not in the way. When we are using the winch, we just reach in and turn it on, and when we are finished, we just reach in and turn it off. The breaker is always off when we aren't using the winch. This solved the problem of a long wiring run, but it still gives the circuit protection. The breaker is sized for the winch. This was actually probably the easiest wiring job I have done so far on the boat. I love it when a plan comes together.

It was time for the first test and the verdict is in. Susan has declared it a total success. As I stood by and watched, she dropped the dinghy in the water from the davits on the swim platform with almost no effort at all. I think her response was, "Way cool." She next raised the outboard off the stern bracket and lowered it onto the dinghy transom. I did help with this and positioned it on the transom of the dinghy as it was being lowered, but the entire process was effortless and either one of us could handle it alone if needed. And that was the plan.

So off we went to hit the beach and do some socializing. Our friends had a day on us and had already found a substantial amount of dead wood for a bonfire on Saturday night. We had a great afternoon catching up and grilled dinner on the foredeck of our friend's houseboat. This is no small houseboat and measures over 70 feet. They bring it down to Panther Key often and put the bow up on the beach. One anchor on the beach and the other astern keeps it sitting almost beached. There was some roll in the anchorage with the afternoon seabreeze blowing off the Gulf of Mexico and the tide and current flowing out. We also had a sudden rainstorm while we were enjoying dinner and everyone had to scramble back to their boats to close all of the hatches and ports. Things didn't get too wet. That night there was a major bonfire and dancing on the beach.

Sunday morning broke beautiful and sunny. The remnants on the beach showed little of the night before. One of the attractions of this Key is the great white sandy beach that stretches along the west side. There is good shelling, and with Gulf water temperatures in the 80s, some good swimming. All of us used the warm water and protected location to do some bottom cleaning on the boats. Our friend John came by with his dive gear and kindly went under the boat and cleaned our prop and rudder. We knew from the vibration and performance of the boat coming down the waterway that it must have been pretty fouled. What a difference it made on the trip back. We don't get in the water at the marina to clean the bottom because there are alligators lurking nearby.

Everyone spent the day Sunday enjoying the weather and hanging out. Our acquaintances on the sailboat were leaving the marina and heading for the Florida Keys. They planned to spend some time in the Dry Tortugas before heading up the U.S. east coast to Maine. We shared some information on the Dry Tortugas since they had never been there before and we had made a couple of trips when we were based out of the Keys. Their puppy thoroughly enjoyed the beach as much as we did. It was a super day, but the tide was near high and that meant it was time to head back to the marina.

There are a few places where the channel depths are only about 3 feet at low tide. Even with our 4-foot draft, we would be running aground at low tide. There are only a couple of spots, but it only takes one to ruin your day. A casual trip back takes us a little over an hour. It helps to have the current running with us and it can reach over 2 knots when running at max ebb or flood. There is also a lot of wildlife to keep us entertained on the ride home and provide good photo ops. A great end to a restful, relaxing weekend. 

Boat Renaming Ceremony

Doing it the right way staves off the possibility of bad luck  (I don't remember where I found this, so sorry if I don't give the original Author Credit)

Superstition still plays a significant role in boaters’ lives. The sea, hardly changed in all the eons since its creation, is still a source of mystery and wonderment. Half of the Earth’s surface is covered by abyssal seas where light never penetrates, but where life nevertheless exists—sometimes in outlandish forms—in conditions of unimaginable pressure and Stygian darkness. Little wonder, then, that frail human beings plying the interface between the unruly atmosphere and the fearsome oceans should seek help by performing certain rituals known to their ancestors, and turning to their ancient gods for protection.One superstition still widely held concerns the renaming of a boat, which, in the United States at least, is held to be unlucky. The answer is to hold a denaming ceremony before you rename your boat. You can make up your own ceremony, or you are welcome to use this one, which has been used with every appearance of success. It is now widely distributed on the Internet, but it is repeated here for your convenience.

Before you hold the denaming ceremony, you must remove all physical traces of the boat’s old name. Take the logbook ashore, along with any other charts, books, or papers that bear the old name. Be ruthless: sand away the old name from the lifebuoys, transom, topsides, dinghy, and oars; painting over is not good enough. We’re dealing with gods here, you understand, not mere mortals. If the old name is carved or etched, try to remove it. At the very minimum, fill it with putty and paint over it. And don’t place the new name anywhere on the boat before the denaming ceremony is completed—that’s just tempting fate.You can read the ceremony with flair on the foredeck before a gathering of distinguished guests or, if you find this whole business embarrassing and go along with it only because you’re scared of what might happen if you don’t, you can skulk down below and mumble it in solitude. But the words must be spoken.

The last part of the ceremony, the libation, should be performed at the bow. Use good champagne and spray all of it on the bow—do not presume to save some for yourself. The gods despise cheapskates; buy another bottle for your own consumption.Here is Vigor’s Famous Inter-denominational Denaming Ceremony:“In the name of all who have sailed aboard this ship in the past, and in the name of all who may sail aboard her in the future, we invoke the ancient gods of the wind and the sea to favor us with their blessings today.“Mighty Neptune, king of all that moves in or on the waves;“And mighty Aeolus, guardian of the winds and all that blows before them:“We offer you our thanks for the protection you have afforded this vessel in the past. We voice our gratitude that she has always found shelter from tempest and storm, and found safe harbor.“Now, wherefore, we submit this supplication, that the name whereby this vessel has hitherto been known, ‘[———],’ be struck and removed from your records.“Further, we ask that when she is again presented for blessing with a new name, she shall be recognized and accorded once again the selfsame privileges she previously enjoyed.“In return for which, we rededicate this vessel to your domain in the full knowledge that she shall be subject, as always, to the immutable laws of the gods of the wind and the sea.“In consequence whereof, and in good faith, we seal this pact with libation offered according to the hallowed ritual of the sea.”There.

Now you are free to christen your boat with a new name. It doesn’t pay to be too quick, though. Most of us like to wait at least 24 hours to give any lingering demons time to pack their duffel bags and clear out.

Raising A Few Brows

The teak brows were probably the least attractive pieces of wood on the boat and a pain to keep up. All of the screws that secured them to the sides of the cabin have been a source of leaks that we knew we needed to deal with soon. We did some caulking early on to stop the water intrusion, but caulking is just the proverbial band-aid, and more drastic action was necessary to resolve it once and for all. Just as with the flybridge, removal has been my choice since day one and the time has come to tackle the project and check it off the list.

The teak brows wrap around the forward and aft section of the cabin. The brows around the flybridge are a thing of the past as we noted in the previous post. Removing these and saving them was not going to be easy, and since I had no intentions of putting them back, they came off in pieces. Some of them were caulked really well when the boat was built, but many were barely caulked at all, and there in lies the leak problem.

With the brows removed, it was easy to see that water and dirt had been getting behind them for years. And in a 30-year-old boat, that's not a good thing.

The next step was to clean it all up, sand off the heavy residue and open up the screw holes a bit with a drill countersink. The cabin sides had been painted with AwlGrip by the previous owner, but of course not under the teak. This was the original gelcoat, so the surrounding area had several coats of primer and paint, leaving an indentation where the strips came off.

The screw holes were filled with a thickened epoxy mix, West System being my preference. It's important to be sure that the epoxy mixture gets deep within the old screw holes. This needs to sit for at least 24 hours to give the epoxy plenty of time to set up properly.

The epoxy is then sanded smooth, and the indentation left by the removal of the teak is filled by applying about 3 to 4 coats of white 545 primer. Once the primer is completely dry, everything is sanded smooth with my orbital sander and 220 grit sandpaper.

Prior to painting, all the surfaces need to be wiped down with a tack cloth to remove dust and then with AwlGrip Surface Cleaner. I like to wipe it down at least twice and sometime three times before painting using two cloths, one to wipe on the cleaner and one to wipe the cleaner off. This assures that all wax and residue has been removed and also gets off the last of the dust.

Next step is to tape off all of the adjoining edges that I don't want to get paint on. Some places will get a single strip of tape while others will get a double-wide treatment. The paint is going on with a roller so there is not much splatter. The varnished wood and any other surfaces I am concerned with will get 3M delicate removal tape. Around the new non-skid material, I used Frog Tape to keep the paint from crawling under it, a common problem.

With the surface prepped and ready for paint, it's time to mix the topcoat. Just as before, we are using AwlGrip Cloud White. The paint is a three part, topcoat, converter and brushing thinner. And I add a few drops of drying accelerator so the paint will dry before the sun sets and the heavy dew here in south Florida ruins all of my hard work. The paint mixture needs to sit for about 20 minutes and cook before applying. I use small foam rollers to apply the paint which often requires no tipping and the results gives us a finish that looks like it has been applied with a spray gun.

The cabin sides will get only two coats of paint instead of our usual three coats. It has been painted previously so the third coat is not really needed. As soon as the paint is dry to the touch, all of the tape is carefully removed. I don't like to leave it on any longer than necessary since the longer it's on, the harder it is to get off. 

With all of the nice fresh paint on the cabin sides, the boat is looking almost like new. But with the brows gone, it looks a little stark and really does need something to dress it up again.

So we decided that a nice matching teal strip would be just the little something the project needed. The stripe was added in the exact same place that the teak brows had occupied before. It really is a nice touch.

The aft end of the cabin got the same treatment and soon we were getting lots of compliments from our neighbors and folks walking the dock. Our neighbors might just be glad that all of the sanding and painting is finished.

We're really pleased with how all of this turned out and this does cut down on the amount of teak we have to maintain and the extra caulking needed on a regular basis. Not to mention the dozens of holes for water intrusion. Drop us a line in the comments section and let us know what you think.

The Flybridge Makeover That Never Ends

I know that after this post I will get some feedback, but not all positive. I have committed a major sin in the trawler society, but I am not sorry and offer no apologies. The interior of the flybridge is finished, the uppermost of the outside now has a fresh coat of paint and it all looks great. Now it's time to finish up and get the last two steps of this ongoing project finished so I can move on to other more pressing parts of the to-do list. The inside of the flybridge is now fiberglassed to the deck and there will be no removal possible, so it's only logical that the outside gets the same treatment.

 

We have been cursed with an excess of teak on this boat as well as our previous sailboat, Sea Trek. The teak looks beautiful and we got lots of positive comments on the boat's appearance, but keeping it up is not at all fun, and frankly, we would rather be doing other things. So if any of the teak can be eliminated without changing the aesthetics of the boat, we are all for it. Add to the problem that all of the screws holding the teak go through the cabin sides and decks, and you get lots of sources for water leaks. This is exactly what has happened with the teak brows attached to the cabin in various places. One choice is to remove it, re-bed the screws and re-attach it to eliminate the leaks. Removing it is very difficult without damaging the small strips so we chose the next best option. Get rid of it all together, if possible. The teak border around the lower outside of the flybridge was in such bad condition that we opted to not even attempt to varnish it anymore and just painted over it until we could finally reach this point. The one-inch brow was also on the elimination list. It had to be caulked to keep it from leaking, and the caulk always looked dirty. The narrow strip also made it a pain to varnish.

 

With the brow removed, all of the many screw holes were opened up with a countersink bit, filled, covered with small strips of fiberglass cloth and then fairing compound covered the whole area to eliminated uneven spots, voids and other irregularities in the gelcoat. A big surprise, once the brow was removed, was that there was a wide gap in the fiberglass under the strips. This all had to be re-glassed. Everything was sanded smooth with 150-grit sandpaper and our trusty orbital sander. The surface received three coats of AwlGrip 545 primer, each coat sanded with 220. Then three coats of AwlGrip Cloud White would be applied after the handrail sections were removed.

The bungs were removed and the screws extracted. The screws in the handrails were over 3 inches long. Keep in mind that we have already painted the white above this trim. It was important to be careful and not damage that new paint. The teak came off without too much effort, but some time was spent cleaning what was left of the old caulking that has been there since the boat was built.

With the wood removed and the caulking all cleaned off, the underlying fiberglass was sanded, all of the screw holes filled and the sides glassed to the deck just as we did with the interior of the flybridge. Rather than try and do all of this at one time, I did sections. Once the glassing was done and everything faired, three coats of gray 545 primer was applied. This strip was going to get a dark color, so the gray primer was a better choice.

This is a good example of what the surface looked like once the teak was removed. It was not a pretty sight and the gaps could vary from a fraction of an inch to an inch or more that would have to be filled and fiberglassed. The clean-up process alone was messy and time-consuming.

But little by little, things began to look better and the whole process moved forward, albeit at a slow pace sometimes. The reason I decided to do sections at a time, instead of just pulling everything off and tackling the whole thing at once, was my fear that I would have everything pulled apart and we would get one of our South Florida torrential downpours, creating lots of problem. Doing it in sections, I could at least get the section I opened up cleaned and sealed with some fiberglass in one day.

We try to keep the mess down as much as possible when working on paint and fiberglass and also try and keep as much as possible out of the environment. My Porter Cable orbital sander is easily attached to my shop vac and eliminates most of the dust involved with all of this sanding. And my neighbors in adjoining slips appreciate it too. The down side is that the vacuum has to be dragged around while I am sanding, but it's well worth it. The clean up and prep goes faster too.

Once the fiberglass work, priming and all of the other prep work was completed, and the surface was smooth and fair enough for painting, three coats of AwlGrip Teal was applied where the wood trim had been. This is the same teal color that we painted on the Boot Stripe during the spring commissioning. The overhang was painted with three coats of Cloud White. Any hardware that had been removed - antenna mounts, boat hook mounts - were re-bedded and re-installed. Things were really coming together.

The navigation lights, which were too tiny in my opinion, made of very old bronze with faded lenses, were also replaced. The new Aqua Signal lights are much larger and will be considerably more visible at night. We chose the white plastic rather than black to give a better contrast to the Teal stripe.

We also found a very nice set of wicker-type furniture at Lowe's that was a good size for the flybridge. It's an outdoor plastic material so it should hold up well in the marine environment, and the light weight won't put additional poundage up in the flybridge. We just love it when a plan comes together. Next step will be to remove the brows on the lower section of the cabin sides.