SHIPS'S LOG FOR THE YEAR 2000

On August 25th, 2000, the boat and trailer were moved from Winnipeg by a Regina company that hauls travel trailers. Although the boat tows well, the original tires are undersized and the moving company had to make the 800 kilometre drive at 80 kilometres per hour. About two weeks later the side wall on the tire ruptured. WHEW! Murphy was late.

In September the hull liner was replaced and the boat was cleaned up. The trailer received a new coat of paint courtesy of dad and mom. Dad took the photo just after the hull liner was glued in place. The fan used for ventilation can be seen just forward of the front hatch.

Pulling the liner with a scraping and brushing with a putty knife and steel brush is a big job with lots dust and ending up with two garbage bags of old headliner. The original liner served as templates and new pieces were cut slightly oversized. The original liner was replaced with 12 yards (72 inches wide) of an ivory colored hull liner material made by the Jackson Marine Fabric company. The new fabric is stain, mold and mildew resistant. Repositionable 3M's Super 77 (spray cans) was used to adhere the material to the hull using two fans for ventilation and a paint and pesticide half-mask. The glue was first sprayed on the hull; the new hull liner positioned; one-half of liner pulled back; spray hull and the liner; stretch and flatten liner in place; repeat with other half of liner, and finally trim excess material to size. The foam backed material is better at hiding imperfections in the hull, but the new material works well. Although the fiberglass is a little rough under the lining, the boat appears to be solidly built. There were only a couple of areas (about 2 square inches) where the interior fiberglass weaving was a little thin.

The second owner had the main cabin and the front berth re-upholstered but hadn't done the stern. The fabric/vinyl covers were removed from the aft cushions and then washed the in an automatic washer and hung to dry. No shrinkage. Frebreze was used to freshen the cushion foam.

This photo above shows Avocet sleeping-tight for the winter.