Spring Cleaning

After all the work making the Goden Wind beautiful on her side that we never see. We decided she needed a sprucing up inside as well. The floor boards and the area around the entry hatch were our first orders of business. After a bit of research we decided to use an oil-based polyurethane to refinish the walls, chart table, table, cabinets and cupboards. This was chosen for its durability and also relatively easy application compared to other wood finishes such as varnish.  We initially considered using the polyurethane for the floors as well but in the end choose a hard wax because it is less slippery when wet.

First, the old wax, grime and dirt had to come off the floorboards, so we took them all out on the quayside where sanding won't suffocate you. That old wax is some tough stuff! Next, fix all the spots where the boards began cracking ad chipping with wood glue and filler. Then, coat the edges in wood finish to make them more durable. Lastly, three coatings of wax for all the boards to make them impervious to the strains of daily sailing.

As most of our work would be done amidships, we made the decision to move everything to the bow cabin and make that our temporary workshop to avoid getting dust from sanding stuck on everything. This also allowed us to have the chance to really clean out every nook and cranny of the Goden Wind's many storage compartments, and to be able to remove things that haven't been used, in some cases, in more than 40 years.  

After some days of intense sanding, finally we get to make things pretty. But putting everything back (with the many different screws required) is quite tedious!

In the end we were able to remove several kilos of out of use cables which used to be hook up the 1970's state of the art marine electronics. Since they were analogue, the cable resistance was taken into account for the calibration and the cables could not be shortened but rather reeled up behind the weather gear locker.

Also removed was a radio direction finder which used the Decca Navigatior System whose towers ceased their transmissions just over 20 years ago.  Some surprise treasures were also found in the Goden Wind's holds as we discovered a Ludolph Compass from the 1950s and the bottleneck and cork of the champagne used to christen the Goden Wind in 1977.