Morehead City, NC maintenance week

   We've spent the last week in Morehead City working on the boat and watching the weather. We still anticipate a departure around the end of the month, so we are using the intervening time to make a few improvements to Navigator. The boat is a huge mess of tools and sanding residue (NMCM for our coastie friends), but here are some of the highlights:
   1. Fixing the companionway hatch - the main hatch leading down to the cabin had received some water damage over the 25 year life of the boat, so it was time to disassemble it and make a few repairs. This involved removing old hardware and wood framing to pull the hatch onto the pier.  After that, some plywood, epoxy, and acetone did the trick. The only bummer is that it was 6 miles to the hardware store by bike to get the plywood, and it was windy!
   2. Varnishing the woodwork - there is lots of teak on Navigator, which requires semi-annual maintenance. We use a Sikken's Cetol product that looks a lot like varnish, but has better ultraviolet protection (to avoid breakdown).  The basic process is to remove the old coating with either a heat gun or sander, clean the wood with an alcohol based solvent, coat it with 3-4 coats of Sikken's Natural Teak, followed by 2-3 coats of a glossy, translucent Sikken's product to protect the wood.  That should last about a year, at which time we just need to scuff the wood and put one more topcoat on it.  However, the wood is in such variable condition that we are "taking it all to parade rest" now, while we have the time.  This week we finished about 1/2 of the wood, working full days, so you can see there is still some work to do. However it is enjoyable work so it's all good.
   3. New canvas - our sewing machine arrived, which is a compact model made by Sailrite.  This enables us to make sail repairs or create canvas products as we need them.  This week, we made hatch covers for the two forward hatches.  Next week is a new sail cover and some deck bags.  The machine is amazing and can punch through 8-10 layers of canvas, and by making 3 or 4 products ourselves will pay for the cost of the machine (canvas companies charge ridiculous prices!).
   4. HAM radio operator license - Kellee took and passed her two HAM radio operator courses which enable us to legally talk on certain frequencies on our high-frequency radio.  The many formulas and definitions are currently be purged from Kellee's brain (via a nap) as I write this.
   5. Navigation light upgrade - we installed new red/green sidelights with LED (light emitting diodes) to cut down on power consumption.
    Aside from those main projects, there are the usual things to do around the boat, but the weather has been fantastic and the marina we are sitting in is so deserted that it is a veritable wildlife sanctuary, with Great Blue Herons and egrets slaying the little fish that hide in the shadows of the pier.  We saw one egret nearly choke to death on a wriggling fish stuck in it's throat the other day.
   Morehead City is pretty decent place to be - it has all the conveniences nearby (including a Red-Box for a nightly movie) and is great for working on the boat. All the same, we are still checking the weather 2-3 times a day to watch patterns and get in the groove for our upcoming departure.

                   6 miles to the hardware store by bike...          Sewing machine in action

                             Varnishing the wood.                      Replacing the sidelights.