One day this boat followed me home. I couldn't turn it away. I was attached to the Widgeon, but this boat was better suited to my growing family. But, it needed a lot of work. I went to it. Bleach, soap, scrub brush, sweat. Took it out for a spin and found out that it leaked.
The hull was painted (for no good reason) with 3 coats of thick rust oleum like paint.
I trailered the boat and headed home.
After some ingenious rigging with straps and ratchets, I got the 500 pound boat up on it's side and started sanding.
The first coat went ok, I had to buy a radial sander.
The second coat was a bit tougher and I was feeling discouraged. I dove into the 3rd coat.
I had started the process with 60 grit sandpaper and was working up to 2000 grit wet sanding. 5 different grits to finish it out. But, I wanted to make sure that I was going to end up with a good outcome so I finished up a little square. Once I rinsed and dried it, I could see the reflection of sky and trees in the shine on the hull. I got really excited.
I finally got it complete sanded down and polished up to a shine. I removed the center board and found a big crack in the hull which I epoxied.
Finally got it back down to the lake recently and out for a ride. The Widgeon is fun to sail, but I'm going to enjoy this bigger faster boat. The family is too. Can't wait to get it down to Charleston!
1 comment:
could i see the inside of the centerboard area?
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