Boat work begins

Saturday 26th February. In need of head space, fresh air and something else to do, and with the sunshining away like mad I decided to do some boat work. So I wheeled the old girl out of the garage and with my daughters help I began the task of removing all the fittings, inspecting and and cleaning, packing the bits away so that I can find them all again when the vital painting and varnishing has been completed.
I have noticed that sometimes screws fool you. You think you have put in nice decent stainless steel screws and what happens? One rusts and another sheers! The rusted one did eventually come out but the other has left me with a slight problem - a screw stuck in the wood and I don't want to even try digging it out. So now, when I replace the fitting, I have to somehow resite it in such a way that it all still works. All good fun. I'm sure I'll work it out.

Oner of the things I am aware of is the need to keep an eye on all those areas that are showing signs of water ingression. The tell tale signs is a darkening of the wood, but in a boat of over 30 years of hard sailing there are quite a few places where the damage has been done but its not getting any worse. So I'm looking at a few of the black bits; on the hog just at the back of the centreboard casing and a bit near a knee on the port side, midway, and wondering if there has been any change since last year - has the dark bit grown? What do I do if it has? I guess at some point I'll get a boat builder to take a look at it and see if any remedial action is needed. But for now it will be ok for another season.

So having removed all the fittings a good wash out with the hose removes the grit and grim of the last seasons sailing and now she is ready for the prep work - the sanding down - filling and any remedial work that needs doing (and there isn't much) - and then she can be painted and varnished.
I can't do much until April when I have more time and the weather is warm enough to allow the paint and varnish to dry but little by little we shall get there. I'm aiming to get it done so that we can do some sailing in the latter half of April.