John and I have a banter that has been going on since he arrived; the amount of light in the boat was an indicator of progress. As work started, it involved removing lots of stuff and as planks came off, the inside of the boat got lighter and lighter. More planks came off and it became even brighter. Then some planks were put on and it got a little darker. but then as the deck came off, the light in the boat rose to amazing levels. One could almost get a sunburn in the bilge. Unfortunately, every time the boat got lighter, I knew that we had that much more to do before Mahdee would be ready to be relaunched.

The last couple of weeks have been dark ones. The deck is on and planking is almost done: no more light streaming up from the gaping holes in the bottom of Mahdee. In fact, Mahdee is now almost as dark as she was when we started on her.

Well, its been an interesting and fun week. I “experimented” with caulking a seam to get over my fear of this big impending project. Yes, the cotton goes in. Yes, seems to be something I can do. Relief. Now to find the particular 3 strand cotton caulking that John says is “the best” if we can find it.

David worked wonders with the Onan genset and the Cummins engine. They work! with a few tweaks, that is. Cleaning the heat exchanger, replacing hoses and seals.

I finally got everything settled with the North Star Propeller Shop for fabricating the rudder stock in bronze! Oh, this is great. We should have the new rudder stock from them in 3 to 4 weeks. Then, John or David will be able to fabricate the wooden part of the rudder and install it. Oh, that reminds me…the bronze gudgeon at the bottom of the keel needs to be re-cast for the new rudder to sit upon.

This week I also began the long process of covering the deck with a waterproof roofing material. Then, a traditional canvas will be laid onto the deck. The foredeck has 2 of the 4 coats of material on it. This weekend, I should get coat 3 and 4 done.

Lots of projects!

Well, as I type, the double layer marine meranti plywood is going on over the raised deck’s lovely Alaskan Yellow Cedar subdeck/overhead. We’ll see it from below, just not from above. Click on image for larger view

The raised deck:

Looking aft while standing on the foredeck:

The aft deck: