After spending some quality time rebuilding the water pump I then spent some time with the 4" grinder removing more bottom paint, gel coat and blisters. I thought it was interesting that blisters I had ground into last Thursday were still weeping today 4 days later. These are not small blisters, when you first see them they are dime size zits, then grinding through them opens most to about a quarter size and a few as large as a silver dollar.

Doing this work gives you time to think about all your previous sins. It also made me think about if it would have been worth it to pay to get the hull sandblasted. At least in my case doing the work slowly while the boat sits here getting other things done to it only makes sense for me to do the work myself. If I were paying a yard for storage getting this serious hard work done quickly would make more than just financial sense.

The other thing that is interesting is watching the moisture readings. In some cases where the hull is dryer, 1.7 or so there have been some minor improvements over the last few weeks with the numbers moving down toward 1.5 or better in some cases. Where the readings are 3 there has been no change. The numbers are also generally better toward the waterline and worse toward the center-line. That make me think I will start my drying work at the center and then work out. To a point gravity is at work here, so if the center gets dried out I would expect the remaining moisture to want to equalize through out the core.

There is no doubt in my mind that these blisters are just one of several moisture sources into this balsa core. Fixing them permanently will be critical to the ultimate success of drying this core and then keeping it dry. But I'm also really looking forward to fairing (not) this hull again after all the nasty things that are going to have to happen to fix the soggy stuff.

I was having some fun this afternoon grinding the bottom paint and gel coat off the Port side of the boat and was noticing how much worse the blistering is on this side. The Starboard side is bad, the Port is horrible. So I got to wondering what would cause this difference. We know there are two halves to these hulls so I wondered if maybe the day shift did one side and the night shift did the other. That would be kinda like that goat cheese from morning and night milk, amazing how different that cheese can taste and it is from the same goats. Then I wondered if maybe water on one side of the boat might have been warmer from the way it had been positioned at the docks this boat has been moored at over all these years. Or in that same line of thinking if sunlight made a difference? Anyway when your doing this kind of crazy hard work you have to keep your mind wandering some so that your arms can stay the course for a period of time.

I just have the bow to do on both sides now, so I am getting closer. A lot of material is coming off this hull after 35 years of bottom painting. So some weight is coming off, but I doubt by the time I re-glass this thing and fair it in there will be any savings, other than the ton of water that should be missing in the core when it is completed. That is still a long ways a way.

Also have been watching the numbers from the meter hoping that magically this thing might be drying itself out, but unfortunately that does not seem to be the case. Weather here has been warming up and we are in off and on showers, with more on, than off. Now that the cabin sole is getting really close to going back in I am starting to think and work on the next items on the list and electrical and dealing with the wet core are getting very close to the top of that long list.

Oh yea, I also filled in 6 nice big screw holes under the galley sink today that had penetrated the inner hull skin. As I work my way around this hull I will be removing any screws that penetrate the inner skin, particularly any that are essentially below the waterline. It is really easy to bond a block of wood using any number of ways to the hull and then screw into that. I don't want anyone to have to do what I have done and am about to do to this hull again.