Getting closer

A few more jobs are now either knocked off or close to being knock off.  Last night I made a start on stripping the artex off the bulkheads.  A horrible job in four foot of head room.  I used a hot air gun and a chisel to scrape it off.  It's not great but much better than the artex. Artex made the whole interior look dirty, I'm glad it's gone... Just don't look around the other side of the bulkhead ;).

Yesterday I also ground out and epoxied the top of the rudder which had split.and was seeping rust. It was fully cured by this morning so I was able to sand it to shape.  I then wire brushed the cruddy old grease off the stock before packing the tube with fresh aqua grease  and reassembling.

Work then holted while I went to empty my wallet at Force 4... New spinnaker halyard, Antifoul, sail slides and a pair of cam cleats saw me 120 pounds lighter.. if only that was pound weight!  I popped into the sailing  club to have a cup of coffee with the old boys and girls who don't have to work anymore.. lucky blighters.
Back at the ranch and time to crack on, heres one of the old cam cleats that got destroyed during a crash gybe last year.

The new ones come with a fairlead to help keep things tidy.  I will also replace the line with something a little thinner.

The rear locker (is that a lazerette?) houses the gas looker, as I don't have a gas cooker I decided to remove it to free up some space.  Easier said than done, this had been glued, screwed and fiber-glassed in place.

After much cutting, hammering, chiseling, bleeding and cussing I had it in pieces and away from the boat.  There was a handy shelf left under the looker which was perfect for strapping my fuel tank too.  I now have usable space in this locker and have completely freed up the port quarter locker.

I have slapped varnish  on just about everything, below you can see the tiller and the galley / cool box unit.  I'm dead chuffed with this, well worth the effort.

The list of jobs left to do on the list is coming down to a manageable amount.   As soon as it is anti-fouled it will be ready to go back in.  Easter and family commitments mean that I will miss the first week or two of the season but after that it's full steam ahead :o))