LET'S TRY THAT AGAIN! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

Leaks! Leaks! Leaks! It turns out that the leak in the aft cabin did not come from the chainplate or the thru-hull fixture for the SSB Antenna. It appears that the leak is actually a deck leak. The nmaib reason that I didn't want a boat with a teak deck was for that very reason, that after a number of years, the teak which wis fastened to the fiberglass under deck with screws, will eventually develop leaks. There is just no way to avoid it. The seams between the teak strips are filled with sealant that over the years looses its elesticity. It shrinks, craks and pieces pop out. That leads to water getting under the teak strips and evenbtually it finds a screw hole. Freezing and thawing will eventually create a shannel for the water to enter the boat and then you wake up some night with your boat dripping on your head.

I spent part of the day dripping water all over the place, in a carefully arranged sequence, and determined that the leak was under the portion of the port side decking somewhere from the aft port back toward the end of the boat . . . . I hope.Water poured there "seemed" to drip into the boat at the troublesome spot re-sealing the seams there should do the job. It is another "simple" project. First you use masking tape to line the edges of the seems so that the sealant doesn't get all over the teak strips but stays in the seams as intended and where it will do the most good. Then one has to remove the old sealant and clean the seams. This is followed by putting in the new sealant, which is black, stinky and which, as I know from doing the job on the hatches, has a tendency to get everywhere. It is amazing that about a 6' X 2' section of deck could take about 3 hours to do. It was a hot, cloudless day and the project was made all the more fun by the people who came by and asked the same question: Resealing your deck? But it is done and now awaits the sealant to cure and then I can remove the tape and do the trimming. There was a rather nasty rain storm Saturday and when I get down to the boat, it should be clear whether or not I go the leak. Hopefully I got it and I won't have to deal with the leak anymore.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

Still waiting on the Yard and the divers. Hopefully all will be moving soon, but till then patience, patience, patience.