2022

…Now the port side of the deck

In June – directly after Pentecost – Frank and me invested our standard two weeks to proceed with the deck. Once again we „booked“ a dry place in the workshop of the Dick shipyard. After the starboard side last year the port side was next. To make it short, we did exactly the same as in 2021 with a single exception. We left the genoa track where it was and did not remove it. On the one hand the material and structure around the track was in a very good condtion as was the track itself. On the other hand last year considerable amounts of „good“ plywood came off the deck together with the track. In other words, last years work was kind of counterproductive. Also we didn’t touch the stanchions. We removed them in 2008/09 and on this occasion the deck around them was generously reinforced. This work still looked fine. By the way: this year we managed to perform the epoxy GRP job and the filler job wet-in-wet without a nightshift :-). During curing and hardening of filler & deck paint we did some minor sanding and paint jobs at the quarter berth and sail stowage area inside. Also we had to adress a serious issue with the keel which will be a major project to come. During hauling out in 2021 we detected a considerable separation between keel and hull – a nightmare for every sailboat owner of course. A check of the keel bolts and nuts from the inside revealed nothing special, they all sat firmly in place with no or only minor signs of  corrosion. To get an idea what had happened the keel must be removed…The keel of Rolling Stone is all lead ballast and connected to the hull by threaded rods which lead to „keel pockets“ where washer and nut are located. The first step was to find these pockets and to free them from foam and epoxy to get access to the nuts. We started this work already but it’s not finished yet. Inevitably we will need external help and assistance from the yard anyway. This issue has the potential for some sleepless nights I guess. Stay tuned…