Winter Projects

1. Pressure-test my outboard. This was Howard's suggestion. To be honest, I haven't a bloody clue what this means other than I have to figure out how to disconnect the engine from the various wires and cables that connect it to the throttle/gear thing and then take it off its mount. I will then schlep it down to an outboard specialist. I may have to replace the fuel injectors. That is if my outboard has them. Given that I can't find the carburetor intakes the conclusion that Howard helped me reach was that I have a 4-stroke engine with fuel injection. Christ, I am mechanically-incompetent. Actually other than getting the mast-less boat from the spot where it will be hauled back into the water in mid-May, maneuvering it to have the mast re-stepped and then putting it back on the mooring, I hardly need an outboard and have become proficient in sailing on and off-the mooring. 2.Empty fuel and water tanks. Both were full when I bought the boat and will need emptying by May. I probably won't refill the gas tank as I have smaller tank that is all I need. 3. Replace the pipes from the water tank to the outlets. This looks like a fiddly pain in the ass to do given that the pipes are hard to get to. I may not get to this and suffer with the current mildewy taste in the water that currently is pumped out. 4. Clean and grease the four winches. 5. Paint the bottom with anti-foulant. I may just do a touch-up as the bottom was painted in late July and the boat was barely in the water for 10 weeks. 6. Clean and polish the hull. It's looking pretty grubby and I spent a thrilling 30 minutes at West Marine discussing various chemical products that look excitingly hazardous to handle and will no doubt have the hull gleaming. Right! 7. Clean the top-sides. At least scrape off the piles of seagull crap that is magnetically more attracted to my boat than its neighbors. I smell foul-play. 8. Replace the halyards. 9. Install stops for the halyards and remove the cleats. 10. Buy longer dock-lines. This is primarily to avoid being told by the 30 experts on haul-in day that my dock lines are too short. 11. Inspect the shrouds and stays. I am never exactly sure what I am looking for but I will hopefully recognize a problem when I see it. 12. Buy a new life-sling. 13. Clean and varnish or treat the woodwork. I may forget about this task and maintain the greenish natural look that the wooden rails and trim has developed. I know from my first boat that this is a messy pain in the neck of a job to undertake. 14. Replace the masthead and forward starboard light bulbs. 15. Fix masthead switch.