Christian's Sailing Blog: Finally got the work done on Reel Fun, plus some upgrades

Having absolutely no idea what I was doing when I purchased my first sail boat, it became apparent that there were many things I was going to have to do to get her back up and running.

Issues that needed to be addressed before I put her back in the water:

Running lights don't work
Interior light doesn't work
Electrical panel has seen better days
Port windows leak and have cracks and broken frames
Forward port hatch is in rough shape and plexiglass is about to fall out
Bulkheads were rotted from leaking chainplates
All deck hardware needs to be re-bedded

I can do most of this myself with my 1 good arm as my left shoulder is still healing. I tried to bribe a few people with beer, but schedules didn't work out so I had to get creative in keeping the topside hardware in place while I unscrewed the nuts from below.

I traced the old window on to some craft paper to make a template. I then expanded it by 3/4" all around to create room for the 3M tape. These windows will be held on by this tape with no screws.

Cutting the new portlights with a jigsaw

New vs old. You can see the 3M tape on the inside of the new portlight

Old portlight

New portlights look much nicer and more modern

This was a major pain to get the topside screws to stay stationary while i unscrewed the nut from inside the boat. Here I have a ratchet tied to the bow pulpit. All through hull bolts were re-bedded using butyl tape. I countersunk all holes to give a better sealing effect.

The boat was still getting some water leaks after I re-sealed all the deck hardware. I found that the water would collect around the rub rail of the boat and then found its way through the deck. The old sealant was rotted out and missing in many places.