Preparing for Repairs

We’ve spent several hours over a couple of days rearranging and discovering the previous owner’s collections of things. I gain a little more insight into the care he gave Swoose every time I find a box of things or discover something he invented to make the boat work the way he wanted.

One of our discoveries is that the boat is a bit light in the stern. The two lazarettes still have plenty of room for stowing gear so we’ll move some heavy items to the stern. That will also help to clear the starboard quarterberth that is currently filled with such things!

I added a dehumidifier to the boat. It is a roughly two-foot cube that sits on the galley counter next to the sink and set to drain directly into the sink. It’s a bit noisy but we just turn it off when we’re on the boat. I was hoping to be able to monitor the humidity remotely with a wifi temperature humidity sensor but I can’t access it from outside the marina’s wifi network. I can, however, download the data when I’m on the boat.

I also added a very small ozone generator to help control the things that grow on moist surfaces. We are already smelling a difference in the boat as we reduce the humidity, add some ozone, and clean hard surfaces. We have at least a few more weeks of cleaning to do.

We also had one sunny day so I grabbed the hose and boat brush and gave the topsides a good scrubbing. Spraying the topsides with lots of clean water also confirmed that the scupper drains and cockpit drains are working well. We finished the topside spruce-up by cleaning the clear vinyl windows in the dodger.

I have not yet tested the propane galley cooktop, the propane instant hot water, the icebox refrigeration unit, or the Wallas diesel heater. Replacing the marine head comes ahead of all of those things!