Prepping for a winter adventure

Patrick here,
I am Chris and Kerm's nephew, and have spent almost two weeks on board Southern Belle getting her prepped for the Exumas. In addition to being the ships lackey, I apparently have inherited the duties of blog updater!

Chris posing with the magic scrubbing compound

You can see reflections in the hull now!

The first thing I tackled was the dinghy. The vinyl was well covered in mildew, and the bottom felt like 20-grit sandpaper due to barnacles. Soap and scrubbing took care of that. Thanks to the full moon and northerly winds, we were blessed with an extremely high tide. We were able to pull the motor and lift the dinghy to the dock so we could scrape the bottom. Some acid and the rest of Chris's kitchen spatulas made for a relatively quick clean up. Cooking dinner has become slightly more difficult, but at least the dinghy looks new again.

Dan Wold (Chris and Kerm's son) visited us over the past few days. He replaced the sink drain and surveyed just about everything else on the boat. I got a crash course in radar technology. Dan also fixed a low-idle gremlin in the dinghy motor.

Kerm repairing the transom

The offending bulkhead is at top center

Kerm has spent nearly two weeks replacing a bulkhead in the transom. Water slowly saturated the wood and turned it all to mush. Replacing it required us to unbolt the swim platform (starboard side) and remove/plug a through-hull fitting 1" above the water line. Holes in boats are never a good thing... But, after many many many coats of epoxy and fiberglass, the hull has been shored up, and parts are back in place. Good job, Kerm!

What else... The top of the anchor has been painted bright red so it will be visible in the murky depths. The radios have been rewired so they can act as an intercom between the upstairs and down, as well as control the PA speaker on the bow. Replaced the dinghy seat with a cooler (for keeping our gear dry). Chris and I took a day off and went to Ft. Pierce to get my Local Boaters Option, as well as some boat part shopping.

I had no idea how much work it is to prep a boat for a winter of cruising - my hats off to all who venture offshore!

Sunset Bay Marina at night (time-lapse photo).

Southern Belle at night (time-lapse photo)