Today was a day off. Enjoy the quiet marina (Boyer again) and relax.
Then, seeing the beautiful dry sunny weather, I figured it'd be a good day to teak oil Di's library boxes that I've been meaning to install since before my rude return to France. Perfect weather for a simple 10 minute job. Then back to relaxation.
Princess, seeing me ashore, put her paws on the gunnels and when jumping back in the cockpit, inadvertently opened the cockpit gate. She'd just done something similar the day before, when she'd nosed the gate open by accident. Being rather clever in her own ways, and an escape artist like most huskies, Di and I knew it was a matter of time before she'd understood the happy accidents and would be able to repeat them at will. So repairing the gate latch wouldn't wait, and I decided to do it now.
I had noticed a long time ago that the cam for the gate was too lose, but unfortunately in my long adventures repairing the gate (documented on this blog) I had not been able to sort it out. I'd tried repairing it in the past but there was no way to properly dismantle the latch without risking damage to either the aluminum axis or the delicate gate's gelcoat. Now with Princess' safety in mind, I had no choice but to get this latch sorted. I'd resolve the cosmetic damage later.
So I interrupted my teak oil job, and started working on the gate.
The latch came off surprisingly easily now that I'd accepted my fate and that I would have some cosmetic damages somewhere. It ended up being fairly small, with tool marks on the aluminum axis. Nothing a little filing, sanding and painting couldn't solve. The gelcoat was untouched.
With the teak oil still drying, I went back to the lazarette, which I had emptied to get better overall access.
There, the battery terminals just stared at me: I knew they needed desulfating, and now with an empty lazarette it'd be an easy job. So while I was at it...
I grabbed some sodium bicarbonate, hot water, a clean brush and Vaseline to clean and protect my batteries' negative terminals.Nothing difficult. Another yearly task ticked off the list. The relaxing day was starting to be less so though.
Back to the gate, I cleaned up everything, put corrosion X as needed, and prime spray painted the outside of the axis to clear any minor scratches off. I'll spray an ivory color finish on it when I get to our home port and proper shops.
Going to the head, and in a "while I am at it" mood, I noticed again the head's ceiling where I needed to reinforce a screw that holds on of the ceiling panels. Another 10 minute jobby "while I was at it".
On to Di's cabin, she pointed to me that the thorough deck cleaning we'd done earlier had highlighted a tiny leak on our forward hatch. So "while I was at it" and since the box with the various glues and seals was already out, I went on the foredeck, and rebedded all the hatches' screws with good marine silicon.
Eventually I did get back to finishing my teak oil work on Di's boxes.
Glad I had a day off! Luckily tomorrow we'll be sailing, and I'll get to sit down on the pilothouse settee all day as I navigate Enfin to our next adventure.