Took the plunge today

[Briankinley2004]

Reckon I will fill my fresh water back up tomorrow. I had to put a new pump on her yesterday. I knew it was bad was on the survey. Everything was fine but I didn't find a off at zero psi switch so what do you know, I hear a thumping noise in ER. Pump was trying to kick on/off. I assume I am out of water as I hooked to dock water and been going 24 hrs on that. We have been cleaning and Im working on the engine room hatch issue. Keep getting interrupted with minor unexpected things but we expected the unexpected lol. I will post some pics of progress below.

 

[Briankinley2004]

My main objectives this long weekend were to clean junk off this boat (the owner died and has been sitting 3 years), fix water pump/water heater, repair the engine room companionway door and scrape the hull. Im at day two and have fixed the water issues including a loose windshield wiper line in the bridge. Its right by the soft spot so I think this is the cause along with the cause of the stains in the salon ceiling. I have been looking at boat since May and haven't seen any water in salon even after heavy rains. I think this was left running and unattended at some point. The engine room door was laying to the side all this time as the hinge jamb was rotten. I was preparing to inject with epoxy but got lucky and was able to remove the entire board and replace. Previous owner had started to rebuild the upper portion next to the sink but didn't soak the wood in epoxy. After removing the rotten mess and drying I coated the boards along with my new one in diluted epoxy. I kept building up, using micro fibers on the vertical parts and have a solid surface now. I dug the rot out of the port side and used a heat gun to dry. I filled the void with resin as well. I have decided to wait until it cools off to scrape the hull. The gators in this river will be more lethargic and hopefully the water will clear up some. Tomorrow I hope to gel coat if the rain will hold off. My wife did an excellent job of cleaning and polishing the wood in our stateroom today. We also got the Nauticflor ordered for the galley

 

[Briankinley2004]

 

[Briankinley2004]

Moderator may want to clean up my threads. I am new to forum and Mac. Cant seem to rotate or upload in a post. Im better with fiberglass than a computer

 

[Briankinley2004]

Got the hatch and door project finished yesterday. Rained real hard last night and woke up to a dry engine room so I am pleased with the results even though they aren't professional quality. They don't show unless you are in engine room.

 

[Briankinley2004]

Also got a pic of the small rotten area on the port side. Does anyone know where to get the folding hatch holders that keep the hatches open. None of my 3 lids have anything. someone tried to install gas shocks but they depend on something to keep them down. Most of the original boats I have fished had a folding arm that snapped shut to keep the hatches open