A Phoenix Rising

Just before I sold Silverwood Yacht Services I aquired a Moody 29 which had been in the yard at Port Solent Marina for a long time, I had noticed it before but had given it no further thought because I was so busy running the business. It was a good job I had the practical experience to see through what I saw when I first inspected it.The cockpit full of leaves, the cockpit drains were well and truly blocked and all the water was dripping onto the engine through the engine hatch.

The hull looked reasonably sound but on closer inspection it was obvious the there were quite a few areas of gelcoat and laminate damage but that is all fixable. The painted lines were all worn and would need repainting. Historically Moody's used to paint the lines using Blakes (now Hempals) Paints, it was only enamel rather than a 2 pack so reasonably easy to deal with although eventually I would want to replace the lower hull bands with Vinyl striping.

This is the state of the main sailbag, very green. All the ropes were all covered in algae, and the wooded handrails the same. Wait till we open the hatch and go into the boat;

These are the pictures I took back to show the family, Kate and Imogen were not impressed but my son thought it was brilliant, let's get cracking Dad!

I took on the project and am working at it as time and money allows. There is a lot that is salvagable and so much cleaning to do!, I think the cashiers at Tesco wondered what I needed all the bleach for. Unfortunately the boat had filled up with rain until someone took the log paddle wheel out to drain all the water out. Every bit of woodwork was covered with mildew so had to be bleached  (the cheapest product to use in volume) and washed to prevent further infection and contamination of untreated woods. Unfortunately when the boat was built none of the unseen surfaces had been treated in anyway which meant the mildew and rot spores could easily gain a foothold. Apart from buckets of water and a scrubbing brush the other vital piece of equipment was a dehumidifier. this over the last 2 years has removed gallons of water from the boat, creating a very dry environment. If no power supply is available there are chemical dehmidifying crystals which are readily available from the supermarket, keeping a dry boat is essential if you don't want your pride and joy to look like the boat in the pictures above.

It has meant that the whole of the interior wood work has been removed. Bunk tops, table, chartable all lockers and storage areas and galley leaving only the grp mouldings and the bulkheads.

This provided an ideal opportunity to check all the structural elements of the hull and the condition of the bulkheads and all remaining mouldings.