Sailing Withdrawl

I stopped by the boat today briefly over lunch to check on progress at Pierside Boatyard in North Charleston. Last week we put a moisture meter on the hull and found it to be quite wet. The hull was peeled in 1995 to mitigate a blister issue with the resins used in the 1980's for boat construction. The layer of resin and fiberglass that was laid down to replace the gelcoat that was stripped has absorbed some water.

The yard finished media blasting the hull last week removing all the old bottom paint and most of the old barrier coat so the hull could dry and the blisters we found could be repaired. The recent dry spell has helped a lot in the drying process.

While the boat is out of the water three are three major projects going on, first is all the work to repair the blister damage and protect the hull with a new barrier coat. The second is to repair some damage on the tip of the rudder, both of these issues were identified during the survey so aren't a surprise. The third item is a some play in the propeller strut - hull joint, this is a new discovery but not a huge issue to correct, hopefully.

We are still on track to get the boat back in the water about mid-March to be ready for Charleston Race week and the CORA offshore series.

I'll be updating the blog as we get closer to launch, if you are interested in crewing let me know. I will also accept volunteers to come down and sand on the bottom to get it as smooth as possible before we put her back in the water.