Another project done

The sound deadening in the engine compartment is done.

I ripped out all the old material from the engine compartment which was disintegrating and causing a god awful mess.  Then came the tedious cleaning to get back to plain wood or gel coat, removing all the old adhesive.

The new sound deadening panels are from Sailors Solutions and come in 1 foot x 1 foot panels, with adhesive on one side and heavy silver film on the other.  Installing the panels was a breeze compared to some of the things I've done this winter!  Running the engine with the new panels in place is much better - the high frequency annoying noises are gone.  I can still hear the lower frequency thrumming - I've got a 4 cylinder diesel engine in the boat, its not exactly going to go away.  But I no longer have blood dripping from my ears after running it for a while.

Looking at my list of projects now is pretty satisfying.  There just isn't that much left on it that is major.  I need to varnish the cabin sole.  Someday.  Maybe next winter.  I need to varnish the exterior teak where the old varnish is flaking off.  But maybe I can hire someone to do that with me.  Then there are a bunch of smaller things, like getting the equipment for climbing the mast together and figuring out a good jibe preventer setup, etc, etc.  When I start getting setup for offshore sailing my list will grow again, but that can wait for a while.  I'll be doing coastal sailing this summer, and the boat is setup for that.

Time to sail more!  If it was a 80/20 rule before, with 80% of the time spent doing projects and 20% sailing, it should be something more like a 60/40 rule now, with 60% going sailing.

Finally!  Its a sailboat not a project.  Lets go sailing!