Ready for 2015 by Shelly

It has been a bit since the last post.  The blog is slightly neglected but Southwind is not!  We have been using pretty much every free moment to either work on Southwind or research sailboat parts, practices and of course great places to sail (helps to motivate!)  This project has definitely been one of the biggest that our family has taken on but things are coming together and we will be in the water before we know it.  We have great things planned for 2015!

We used a template from NewFound Metals

I guess it would be best to update on where we are in our refit now and what we have accomplished.  Sometimes it seems like we would spend hours and hours without really getting to see the results.  There now seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.  First of all, the wood rot was REALLY bad and it took a lot of time and patience to get the old torn out and replaced with new but it is done now and we couldn't be happier.  After getting the cabin sides replaced we could see how desperately we needed to add in some port lights.  We ordered 5 lights from Newfound Metals and with a bit of work installed all five!  I think we will eventually add a couple more but for now the five we added made a huge difference!

Beautiful new port lights!

We have also replaced all of our thru hulls and have added seacocks to all openings.  After a lot of research we decided to go with marelon.  So out with the old bronze and in with the new.  They look so fresh and clean.

We removed the old head (eewww!!) and used bilge coat to cover the floor in preparation for the manual head that we purchased.

Now let's talk about the cutlass bearing, this has been a tough one for us.  We were able to get the prop off but have been unable to remove the shaft to get to the cutlass bearing.  This is like the ongoing project for us.  Each time we head down to the boat with new research and new ideas on how to remove the shaft and reach that pesky cutlass bearing we meet the challenge with no success and usually vote to move on with another project.  Eventually we will have to figure this out and we may have to call in some help.

In the meantime we have repaired most all of the fiberglass and with a little fairing and some sanding we should be ready to get the cabin and deck primed and painted.

The other things we have worked on includes making cushions and covers for all of the seating in the saloon (there were no cushions to be found when we bought her).  Inspecting the sails, which all appear to be in really good shape, and working on making a sacrificial sailcloth for our furling genoa. Katlyn has also been steadily working on cleaning the bilges and painting them and also getting the old diesel engine shiny again.

I sit here writing this as 2014 comes to a close, reflecting on what we have accomplished this year, and I am feeling pretty lucky to be a part of this crazy family.  This has been a really great year, not always easy but very rewarding.  We officially added our youngest member in as we finalized Zoey's adoption, we found Southwind and made some great memories as a family as we began her refit, took an awesome visit to the East Coast to visit family and do some sight seeing and put into motion a dream of becoming a cruising family! 

 Yes I say, farewell 2014 you were a good year... Welcome to 2015...Let's Do This!