The first thing I needed was a ladder to be able to get on the boat. After pricing stepladders, I decided that a wooden ladder would be cheaper, stronger, and less attractive to theives. I had my Dad design and build the ladder shown here from two 2x4 studs and a third one used for the rungs. It's much more stable than many stepladders I've been on, and extends beyond the rubrail, so you're not stepping down into thin air!
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Next on the list was removing the outboard motor and rudder, and constructing a new mast support for the transom. The support is again made of 2x4 studs, and is simply tied to the pushpit. I stapled carpet scraps to the bottom of the wood to avoid scratching the cockpit.
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With the mast secure, I could now go about cleaning up the standing rigging which was cluttering up the cockpit very effectively. I used one of the dock lines to tie the mast down to the deck and to coil the shrouds, and used one of the halyards to finish off the rest of the mast. Rather than use bungi cords over the winter, I just used the bungis to get things under control, then spiraled the rope around the mast. I feel it's more secure and less likely to come undone during the winter months.
Also here you can see me pressure-washing the deck. I've got one of the small 1200-PSI pressure washers which hooks up to the garden hose. And it's amazing how much crud I managed to clean off the deck, especially in the non-skid parts of the deck. At $200, that's the second-best money I've spent on the boat. The best was $12 for an "Astro-Turf" door mat, which I put at the bottom of the ladder -- it keeps all kinds of gravel off the deck when I'm walking back and forth.
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A few photos of the boat and me:
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And once that was all done, we got to pack all the stuff (motor, cushions, fenders, sails, running rigging, etc, etc, etc) into my Dad's Volvo wagon. By the time we were finished packing, the car was completely full.
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Continue on to Buying Tips.
Last modified Wed Oct 27 23:55:37 EDT 1999