Winter on the way

The first job this week was to put some antifreeze in the engine just as a precaution probably not strictly necessary yet as the boat is still afloat and the sea water nowhere near freezing point yet but now that I have sorted all the minor leaks I may as well make use of its anti corrosion properties as well.

I dug the spray hood out of the garage and fitted it to the frame it has seen very much better days the fabric has gone hard and crispy plus it does not fit very well also it has split in way of the main frame tube. After playing around with it for some time I managed to get a reasonable fit but it is definitely a candidate for replacement. The stainless steel frame however is in reasonable condition and will be reused.

Spray hood

I have spent the rest of this week working on sanding the various gelcoat repairs. I have been giving some thought to the non slip areas of the cockpit which I had decided to paint with non slip paint however the two companionway entrance areas will be subject to concentrated wear which will probably mean that the paint will wear through fairly quickly I had been considering Treadmaster again however I have some plastic teak left over from work on previous boats so this weekends homework job will be to make up two panels for these areas.

Saloon companionway

Aft cabin companionway

The above photographs show where the original Treadmaster was glued the plastic teak panels will be of a similar size.