The Helm
In keeping with getting this beast ready to take out for a spin, we finally put the steering wheel (the boaty term is the helm) back on the boat. Way back in early 2013 we took a bunch of stuff off the boat, the wheel included, and it’s been in storage ever since. Some previous owner coated it with lovely Cetol over and over and water had gotten under the Cetol and it was peeling. Rich stripped off the Cetol a couple years ago and a few weekends ago we sanded it with 320 grit sandpaper and put two nice, clean coats of our favorite Star Brite teak oil and sealer on it. The post that the wheel attaches to has been a real leg-bruiser these past few years so it’s nice to get the wheel on, though I have banged my shin on it already. Rich also made new teak knobs for the throttle and shift levers (the old ones were cracked). Little by little, one step closer…
Engine
Rich has been doing a little work on the engine. He started hooking up the gauges and found a small coolant leak. He was able to fix the leak and the gauges are hooked up, though there was a little hiccup there that Rich will post about later.
Well what the helm. Looks good
Rich the wheel looks good but do yourself a big service and get a cover of some sort on it. You will bum yourself out if you don’t keep the bright work covered. Might be worth your money / time to look for a cheep industrial sewing machine, couple hundred bucks .
Thanks Tom. We do have a crappy old cover for it right now. It’s functional but we’re going to replace it eventually.