Since my boat is in the water I have had a chance to spruce up the trailer. I had done the front lift mechanism in 2011 so now I am ready for the rest of it. It was structurally sound but the springs needed replacing and it was rather rusty. I used a 4 1/2" grinder w/ a wire wheel attached and it took the rust down fairly easily. I used a rust preventing paint "Chassis Saver". This is used by the local loggers in their logging trucks. I had used it of the front tilt part of the trailer and it worked great. It goes on with a gloss finish but once out in the sun it turns dull. It sticks to anything. In fact I made the mistake of not cleaning out the rim of the paint can and I had to cut the lid off because it was stuck so hard. the local auto body paint shop owner who recommended this told me I didn't even need to take the rust off - I could just paint over it but I figured I should at least make it flat. I developed a nasty tennis elbow problem from grinding all day

You can see there was some serious rust on the frame. But after grinding and painting it looks great!

You can see the rollers were in rough shape - I replaced all of them and added one to the front cross strut

I could not find replacement springs that fit the brackets so I had to use slip springs and bolted the new rear hanging bracket to the frame. The new springs pull the axle center slightly aft so I was a little concerned that when the boat was loaded onto the trailer the fender will rub the tire. Turned out I did not have to worry. I picked up the boat and it worked great. the next step will be to finish the hull. I hope to sand down the entire hull then paint on new bottom paint and finish it above the water line. I would like to remove all the hardware but I am not sure I can reach the bolts for the motor mount. I have secured a barn to do the work and hope to have done before May 1, 2015 when the lake opens again. I will document my efforts as always in this blog.

Happy sailing,

Tom

My apologies for the long delay between posts but I have had a lot of projects at the house demanding my attention. I purchased a dock space this year instead of keeping it on the trailer. It is so much easier. The season at my local lake is May 1 through October 31 (all boats have to be off the water in the off season). I didn't get the boat in the water until July. My plans were to repaint the hull before putting it in but if I waited for that I would never get it in the water. The paint job will have to wait even though as you can see she is in desperate need.

 I also obtained an outboard. I had an old 3.5HP Mercury but I twisted the carburator jet and broke it. Apparently this item is not stocked any more and I could not find a replacement. I found a 6HP Evinrude for $400 that runs great. It came w/ a separate gas tank but I felt it would take up too much room so I bolted on a lawnmower tank to the cover. this works great. The only time I need it is leaving the dock and coming back in so the 1/2 gallon of gas it holds is plenty.

 I decided to put up a wind vane on the mast so I had to lower the mast and screw it on. This was a $15 item I found on Amazon (some of the windvanes are very expensive!). It screws onto the mast head and works great.

 I have a slight leak somewhere. There is always a 1/2" of water in the bilge. This fall when I pull it out I will have to inspect the hull. My suspicion is that it is coming in via the keel pocket somewhere.

The next big project is to rehab the trailer. Now that the boat is off of it I will need to grind off the rust, replace all the rollers and probably put on new springs. I will chronicle all this over the next few entires.

Happy sailing,
Tom