Taking Stock....

After a nights rest, I started early the next morning by taking all the stays, rigging and guide wires off the main mast. I thought it was going to be a 2 or 3 hour project to get it all squared away and then hit the interior later in the afternoon. Heh, little did I know. It took about 2 hours to get all the rigging unknotted and put away then another 2 hours to get all the guide wires off. That was the worst part as I tore up my hands pretty good while getting the pins out of the shackles. About this time Rich woke up and started helping me straighten things up. With his help we made a tall sawhorse to mount the non functional engine on for work and a "A" frame for the stern to hold the mast up off the deck. We took the roller furler off the mast and stored it in the garage diagonally cause it was too long to go straight in. I'd like to interject a hearty thank you to the neighbors for putting up with a HUGE boat next to the house. I was really worried about them freaking out about it.


Sunday and last day before my vacation is over I started taking out everything from the interior. Everything from the cushions in the quarter berths to the sails in the front lockers were removed and inspected. I'm telling ya it was like Christmas. The coolest thing found was a spinnaker in the forward v berth area that was in brand new condition. I bet that sail cost 1/3 what I paid for the boat. The previous owner never said anything about that. Other cool items found was a offshore life jacket, working jib cut for the roller furler, 2 safety harnesses, a depth sounder that's not installed yet and a autopilot for the tiller. I felt like I'd hit the motherload. The gear totaled about what I paid for the boat. But I can't wait to see that spinnaker flying next summer most of all!



After emptying the interior out I took the main sail off the boom and washed it good with dishsoap while my friend tried to get the engine started with no luck. Luckily we found the manual onboard to troubleshoot the problem. The gas looked like milk. We tried changing fuel hoses and using clean gas but it still won't start. It wants to with starter fluid but with bad fuel and hoses it wasn't going to work. A new hose will be picked up this weekend and we'll try again. I don't see any reason why it shouldn't start then as it looks real clean otherwise. The last order of the day was to coat the standing rigging with lithium grease for prolonged storage until the summer.

It was kinda sad knowing that from this point forward the majority of the work will have to take place on the weekend because my vacation is over. Since we are no longer on daylight savings time it's dark in the afternoons by the time I get home. I can still work on the small things like cleaning up the dodger frame with steel wool and doing the research for what kind of paint I want to use on the topsides then write up the blog before I got to bed. But all things being equal I'd rather be working on BeBop and her refit. Believe it or not it's a major stressor to me for a few reasons. 1st, it's the biggest project I've ever undertaken. Before this the biggest was rebuilding a motorcycle 2nd, I don't have a lot of money to do it with and 3rd it has to be in liveaboard condition by late summer. The clock stops for no man. Just do the best I can I suppose, like that makes me feel any better.

Next up on BeBop Around the World: Let the Refit Begin....