Re-done propane tank locker

While working in the stern, took the opportunity to fix all the mistakes I made with the propane locker:

  • Box to deck join only had basic adhesive foam liner. The assumption was that rubber seal above it will keep moisture out. That turned out to be false and the locker had quite a bit of moisture inside and leaked water into the interior. Ripped out the liner and put in proper sealant.
  • Drain hole was drilled about 2 inches from back wall to be more accessible; however, the condensation just accumulated in those last 2 inches and there was constant standing water in there. Moved the drain hole & hose to the very edge of the box, epoxied it in, and closed off the old hold with epoxy.
  • The hole through which solenoid cable was entering the box was small so I figured it’s not really necessary to seal it. Wrong. Moisture/condensation dripped through it. Sealed it properly this time.

After all of that was done, the lid was remounted and the box was cleaned, sanded, and painted on the inside. Should keep all the moisture out from the inside of the boat now.

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!

Galley storage refreshed

Finally got to the galley storage shelf. Replaced side panel, painted interior light gray, and sanded/stained/varnished teak frame. Also added rubber liner to keep things from sliding around inside.

Next up for it: install LED strip inside, replace old sliding doors with new semi-transparent panels, and mount it securely.

Non-skid touch up

Touched up non-skid in a few places. I think I’m done with exterior paint for some time now. Not that it’s perfect but I think it is good enough 🙂

Time for paint

With primer dry, it was time to paint the bow repair and the new propane locker. Got better weather than yesterday. Still a bit windy but manageable for spraying. Ended up with a few runs anyway, impossible to avoid in conditions like these.

Propane tank locker box

Built a new locker for storing propane tank, regulators, solenoid, and valves. Plan to install it in the stern by making a new cut-out, glassing in the box so it’s air tight and drains overboard, and the creating a lid out of the piece I’ll cut out.