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| Beginning the project of
stripping the paint off Little Cruiser
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Little Cruiser
turned over with the
"big wheel," and the bottom is ready to be worked
on.
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Initial removal of the antifouling paint.
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| Antifouling paint
gone and copper ground strap removed. The putty
over all the nail holes was removed at this point.
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| View of the stern and the
skeg. |
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| Nail holes
and defects puttied with epoxy and microballons. Plywood sealed with epoxy.
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| Little Cruiser
being rolled over again to complete work on the deck.
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| .: Microcruiser Refit |
2005
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We were really
hoping to cruise the beautiful Bahamas this winter, but unfortunately we
just couldn't get Little Cruiser ready in time. We thought that
by starting in the
summer we would have plenty of time to strip the boat down to bare wood
and then to cover it in fiberglass; however, we just underestimated the size of
the project. We also got slowed down a bit when
we acquired Swamp Thing in the Fall. She
required some immediate attention to some serious rot damage to
her hull, deck and transom.
At the moment, Little Cruiser has
been completely stripped
of paint and
she has been sealed in epoxy. Now we are awaiting the
return of Spring to sheath her fully in fiberglass. Since
the weather is too cold for glueing, we have been concentrating our efforts
on rebuilding Swamp Thing.
(Click on images to enlarge)
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| Here is Swamp
Thing
after she just arrived from Florida.
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View of the starboard side and hole in coaming.
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Stern
view. We found rot in the transom and the rear deck.
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| If you look at
the cockpit coaming carefully, you can see that it is delaminating.
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| Extensive rot was discovered on the
port side of the rear deck. This has been ground away,
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| More rot on the starboard side of
the rear deck. Part of the toe rail is also missing.
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| Significant rot is
present in the area of this transversely located core void. If
you look at the bottom left of the picture, you will note a patch
where the hull was penetrated by a rock many years ago.
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