Working in the dink

Given that there is no effective light to do outside work on the boat past 4:30 these days, I decided that i would try to do some work in the morning and stay at 'work' a little later in the evening.

I wanted to made some more of the seams watertight for the winter... I don't trust that there is any more weather to do full recaulking on seams, so I opted to partially reef them out and fill the gaps with roof patch (blackjack). This should keep the water out, but it will look awful being black goo on a white hull. But a dryer boat is worth it.

So I loaded up the dink with the necessary gear and rounded to the non-dock (stbd) side of the boat.


Then I went to work. I didn't take the camera with me (I didn't trust that everything would go smoothly and I would keep the water on the outside of the boat while working). But I basically reefed the seams, taped them off, and filled them with roof patch. I did find the seam that I know is responsible for a decent stream of water coming in when it rains. I pulled out a bunch of wet cotton from it and the wood was damp. Though I didn't dig very deep into most of the seams, I didn't find any more rot spots, which makes me happy.

Here is the dink with the pile of tape in the bow and bad cotton/paying compound near the stern.

And I really enjoyed working in the morning sun of a brisk fall morning.