Mr. Clean

SHIP'S LOG:

      I was able to spend all of Saturday past cleaning ABISHAG. There was dirt and dust. I really wonder where it comes from since she has been closed down and covered all winter. There was black mold but not a lot thank god.  The was white mold on all the wood work and on ABISHAG that's a lot.  In both instances, a spritz of bleach/water killed the mold and once dead, it got wiped off. The most interesting mold, aside from the black which can kill you if you are not careful, was the mushroom I found growing in a corner of the forepeak. That was a first. I really don't know how it made it into the boat but there is was.  More bleach and a little scraping and it was gone.

    I did a lot of sanding of the wood work as well. Doing so produced lots of dust and so there was also lots of vacuuming. Sounds simple, but like most maintenance jobs on a boat, it ain't. Maneuvering a shop-vac around the inside s an exercise in being a contortionist. It is amazing where that dust gets. Behind and under every cushion, under the edges of all the floor panels, adhering to every surface, horizontal or not. And to make everything more better, there is a tree near by which sends out seeds on these feathery parachute-like conveyances and they just float into every open space, read "every open hatch." And of course, they waited to "invade" until I had done all the vacuuming. The only good thing was that there was no wet varnish for them to land on.

     I got to scrape off the few barnacles that remained on the hull and wire-brushed them off the prop. And lastly, I removed the zincs that have to be replaced. All in all it was a good first day. I'll get up this coming week to do maintenance on all the winches, blocks and other items that need de-greasing and re-greasing, Getting up to work on the boat has been difficult as when I was free to go , it rains and when it didn't rain, I wasn't free to go. Right now I am working i the sail loft and running the Launch. This is the time of year when the two jobs overlap and getting free for a third is a little difficult, but I am planning to take as much of next week off as I possibly can. Get ready for a deluge!