It was a good month with much accomplished on Dorade; the confidence level of the team remains high and we expect everything will be done for the intended “splash date” of mid-April.
According to Baltic Boatworks, the varnish and repair work on the spars are complete and the equipment has been put into storage in Bristol, R.I. Upon inspection, the spindles that support the pin rail were found to have rot. Jens will be making four new spindles to replace them.
Jens and his team at Baltic Boatworks have been onboard some evenings and most weekends to attend to the staining of the mahogany and build up of varnish. Jens has made a very good attempt to color match the king plank, deck areas and cockpit coamings. Jens also has the team repainting and varnishing the forward hatch and interior fo’c’sle.
Marine Carpentry Professional, Jimmy Titus has initiated a plan to repair the bronze hawseholes, which will be removed while the surrounding bulwark area is repaired. The holes will be reset into the bulwark encapsulated in an epoxy pad, which will seal all wood surfaces in contact with the bronze hardware. This will allow for a strong and durable bearing surface where the hawseholes can be used without fear of movement.
Diversified Finishes has finished the Baltoplate Paint shoot. The pop-it stands have been moved so those areas can be blended in. The fairing work was unbelievable; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wooden boat bottom look as fair. There were some delays due to the unusually warm weather, causing the lead to sweat. A couple of extra heaters and some time solved the problem.
East Passage Boatwrights has finished the splinting in the bow area. There was some additional cracking and seepage along the stem, so we added another spline in that location. Diversified will begin this week to fair over and blend the repaired areas of the topside and boot stripe as well as some other localized areas on the topside.
Joe Loughborough, owner of Loughborough Marine Interests, is working on having the spare rudder flaps installed. Once he has a pattern, a second set will be made up and stored in the container for future use.
Our Boat Captain Razz has been working on a variety of concurrent projects. Following is a brief list of them, but there’s much more that he has been working on that he can fill you in on:
- Head: Both heads were disassembled and parts sent out for re-finishing. Work in progress.
- Spin Poles: Both spin poles were stripped and sent to the Diversified shop for priming. Once the faux treatment is applied, Diversifed will clear coat it.
- Safety Gear: All the safety gear has been reviewed and deficient items noted
- Engine Pump: Razz has had several different contractors come to Dorade to determine the source of engine oil in the bilge, and all have concluded that the source is the gaskets/seals on the injection pump, which need to be removed and rebuilt. There is also a substantial amount of corrosion on the fuel rails and injector heads as water has been leaking through the hatch in the galley counter top and landing directly on these areas. Razz is working on a solution to better seal the hatch and divert water ingress.
See below for a full gallery from the shipyard:
