Jeff Brown the diva gets his own dressing room this winter . . .

 . . . so those who serve him can do so in relative comfort—and much earlier!   

Jeff Brown's new winter home--it even has electricity.  We're spoiled!

So there I was today, hoof-pick (reefing hook) in hand, gouging out all the crud that I’d put between the rail and the deck, and that others before me had put there for the past 50 years, because this year we are going to do some above-the-waterline repairs.  I’d told Paul I wanted to take the deck down to wood this year, and he’d looked at me with that patient, aren’t-you-just the-cutest gaze I have come to understand means that there is more to the deck and its, er, issues, than I had realized. So when we met in Jeff’s new boathouse this week—me, Paul, and a possible helper-to-be, what was discussed was the sorry state of the rail and the need for the “covering board” to be screwed down tight to the frame, since it has come up in spots over the years. The covering board, in case you are clueless like me, is that deck plank that is closest to the rail and is the same width all up and down the length of the boat, unlike the other planks farthest from the middle, which are cut to match its curve. 

the white plank is the covering board.  And that cool little red scraper was my best friend today. Way over down on the right you can see the fabbo newly varnished bowsprit and jib club.

So the first thing to do is get all the ancient goo (some soft, some hard, some like iron) out from between both the covering board and the first “real” deck plank, and then get all the other crap out from under and wedged up beside the rail, so that everything can move enough when we fasten things down together.

Charming.

 Let me tell you, friends, I did not like what I saw when what was under the rail was revealed.

Lotsa rot.

eeeeewwwwwww.

Which will have to be addressed, but since this is the non-billion-dollar restoration, we will be using our pal Mr. Epoxy instead of Mr. New Material.

I am confident that when the time is right, the real restoration will begin.

on the outside I had to lift up the rail with the screwdriver and get the reefing hook underneath it to clear out all the gunk so you can see about 1/4" of daylight now all along the rail.  Which is why I thought I'd destroyed the boat till I was told this was what had to be done.  Jeff looks painfully decrepit at the moment, though.

But for now, it's good enough to make it so that no more water gets in where it shouldn’t.

So today I did both sides on the inside--I suppose you purists would call it the inboard--and then one side on the outside because frankly I was terrified that I was just ruining the whole shebang.  But Paul examined it later and told me I had done a bang-up job, and certainly didn’t take any more out than I should of, and as a matter of fact would probably need to pull out even more.

But this is good, since it is only January and we are attending to the deck, which in my opinion never gets enough love. 

Since it gets dark so early still I will have to wait till next weekend to do more, but now that I know I’m not completely wrecking the poor thing, I’ll be able to finish, as well as start on what I wanted to do in the first place—grab the heat gun and get rid of some more of the deck paint.  Hopefully nothing like what I found today will be lurking anywhere else but around the rail.

There really are hoof-picks involved in this operation, although I ended up using the reefing hook more.

Plus, a gentle tap with the ice pick and the screwdriver didn’t hurt.  And the business end of the file.  I seem to be far better at demo than fine finish carpentry.