After reinforcing the deck to hull joint at the stern, I made out of G10 a couple of large/oversize backing plates for the cleats and re-bedded them with sealant. Should be much stronger and more waterproof now.
Reinstalled stern cleats
Finished wiring DC circuit
With help from my friend Viktar, the final motor wiring and remaining DC components were connected and tested. Batter charger / inverter is in place, 48V to 12V circuit for main DC panel is in place, batteries are charging, motor is hooked up. Was finally able to remove the last remaining old battery – house. Now the boat is 100% on the Victron Lithium-based system.
Replaced DC main switch
Since my main switch now works on 48V (upstream of the 48V -> 12V converter), a new beefier version was needed. Lucky for me it fit into the same slot/hole so the swap was fairly easy.
Mounted plaques
Mounted back the guardian of the boat and all the plaques that used to be on the bulkheads before I made the new ones. Boat’s history proudly displayed.
Added floor liner for head
Pretty basic improvement but feels so much better on bare feet than cold fiberglass. Looks OK as well.
Sealed rudder post
Found a few slow leaks on the rudder post and realized the cover plate was never attached after being painted in 2017. Took time to clean it up, seal it properly, and add fasteners. Should be nice and dry now.
Dehumidifier drain thruhull
Added a new thruhull at the stern to drain dehumidifier directly overboard.
Refinished the companionway stairs
The time has come to bring the stairs up to new standard. The bastard painters I hired back in 2017 painted the tops of steps with nonskid exterior paint (for the interior stairs!). And of course that is exactly where beautiful teak is supposed to go. Had to be fixed.
Started by sanding down that crap
After spray-painting the sanded stairs back to uniform white, I turned my attention to teak, which was sanded, stained, and varnished
Then, the teak was mounted with bungs and final coat of varnish added on top.
Finally, I put in two new latches to secure the steps in place.
Super happy with the result!
Signs of life test & Putting motor back in
With help from my friend Victor, got the Victron components wired up together and tested. All seems to be working fine.
We also got the motor re-mounted and connected to the shaft. There is a pretty significant wobble there so we’ll need to go through the alignment process.
Replaced PSS bellow, while in water!
PSS needs to have its bellow replaced every 6 years. The time was up for mine and with motor and batteries removed, I had clear access.
Almost every page of the PSS replacement kit said “do not do this with boat in the water” but plenty of YouTube videos showed that it actually could be done so I decided to use the opportunity.
That task is not for the faint of heart. Water was gushing in and took some time to property secure the new seal. All in all, the task was completed and I learned quite a bit.
