A new bowsprit, bobstay, shrink wrap and a first snowfall

By Sailor Keddy -
The old one was a hunk of rotten mahogany and the most visibly apparent reason why I could not head south this year. The new one is three 2x6 pieces of plantation teak, ordered from Florida in October. I had them shipped to Maine with the intent of driving up to my dad's place to assemble and cut it in his wood working shop up there. Unfortunately, the Geo is on its way out and won't make it off Aquidneck Island, I found this out the hard way. My dad came down to Newport with the wood and some tools and I started joining the pieces together the next day.





After the epoxy had set, Elizabeth came down from Boston and helped me cut and shape the wood into one resembling the old bowsprit. I had to be careful on the length and get it exactly correct, I didn't want to get a new headstay! My neighbor at the marina here knew a guy with a big sander at the shipyard, that saved me a whole lot of time.




After it was cut and sanded, I ordered some bronze hardware to affix the large cast bronze piece that the head and bobstay attaches to. Once that was completed, all that was left to do was drill some countersunk holes for the carriage bolts and put it on the boat!




I had to replace the bobstay, the swage fitting near the waterline was cracked and swollen. I decided to go with chain, and Ben (a fellow liveaboard at the marina) suggested I go with stainless over galvanized. Apparently the galvanized chain and my bronze turnbuckle would not get along well together, from his personal experience. Anywho, here is the completed setup, I really like the look of the chain and the wood looks great!


I was simultaneously working on getting the framing for the shrink wrap up (using 100% salvaged materials!), which papa dukes also came down to help with over Thanksgiving. The framing took about 6 hours total, and, with Green and Mike's help, the shrink wrap went up in another 5 or so. Timing couldn't have been better as Green and I finished up shrinking it on Tuesday morning at 7:30, just as the rain starting coming down...which later turned into snow last night.



It's toasty warm and blessedly dry on board now, and I have a great space to work in for the winter. The second pic is from inside the boat, looking aft out of the companionway. 



How do I get in and out, you may ask? Please let this short video show you!




I've decided to tackle the interior stuff for the winter, for obvious reasons. The space below needs to be homier as well, its still pretty barren and there are still paint chips everywhere. I started on the wiring this morning, tracing it all through bulkheads and lockers, which ended in a rat's nest in the head. I decided to pull everything out, since I had to get at the chainplates anyway...here is a before and after. I know its a mess, but its all sound structurally. No wood needs to be replaced, just scraped, sanded and painted. Oh, and Matt got a candid shot in the middle of working.




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