Spring Progress

I sanded the centerboard and painted it. It had a lot more rust than I hoped since I did the same thing last year.

While I had it hauled up so that I could get to the centerboard I found dents from the front rollers on the trailer. The rollers have worn through some of the paint and dented the wood underneath. I know that the last owner, and possibly owners before that, didn't really use the trailer to haul the boat very far. It had never been licensed.

I have heard that roller-trailers are the wrong type for a wooden boat. This confirms it. It addition, the trailer is too short and the boat hangs over the end. This probably makes it harder to launch the boat and pull it out. I have to back further into the water.

I have a new bunker-trailer on order. It should be in any time. That should reduce wear.

I washed the flooring in preparation for oiling the teak. Last week I had dumped a couple of buckets of water in the boat to swell the planks. It still has some leaks - not surprising since it has been in the garage since the end of September. It seems to be tighter than last Spring. The water was only dribbling out when I washed the flooring. It probably sat out of the water all 2008 and maybe longer. It looks like the seams did not open as much over the winter.

I've said before that the boat did not show ordinary wear when I bought it. The hull needed paint but nothing else showed any wear. It certainly shows some wear now. For the most part, this is just scratches around wear points. I've been using some rub-on urethane which takes care of most of them.

I would still like to paint the keel but it is not mandatory to put it back in the water.

We have been checking out Buckeye Lake. This is larger and more interesting than where I have been sailing. Most of it is unlimited horsepower which is a pain in the Whitehall because of the wake but it has some unusual features like a floating island. I'm hoping to try sailing it in June.

UPDATE: The teak looked goo after being washed. A oat of teak oil and it looks like new.