It’s so nice to get the exterior teak cleaned! This photo shows the swim step on our stern when it was half done. What a difference!
What to do while we wait for the new window glass? Clean up the boat! Jim used plastic sheeting to cover up the broken window so that we could safely spray water on the outside of the boat. He gave Phoenix a much-needed washing, and I had a chance to tackle the exterior teak.
The glow of the morning sunrise was a stark contrast to the dim early morning light on boats in Anacortes Marina.
Due to some of the issues on our Dent Island cruise, we got back to Anacortes Marina a few days later than we planned. Because we had to be back in Bend, we had only a few days to clean up the boat and get things in order after our cruise. The item of highest importance, needless to say, was doing more serious testing to determine the status of our house batteries.
The Superwinch battery is stored inside a locker on our flybridge, and in a protective box that is tied down.
The Superwinch solenoid now has wires on the left side that connect to the battery…the wires on the right are the ones that connect to the winch.
Teak swimstep and boarding ladder before cleaning. The boarding ladder is stored in a folded position, on the port side of our stern.
Teak swimstep and boarding ladder after cleaning.
Connecting the battery and remote control to the solenoid is the next step of installing the Superwinch. We found a place to store the winch battery in the locker on the starboard forward end of the flybridge, then ran heavy battery cables inside the side wall of the flybridge to connect the battery to the solenoid.
Wiring the remote control to the solenoid required a little more effort. First we had to decide where to locate the plug-in for the remote so that the 10-foot cord will reach the places we want to be when we are using it. The best place seems to be near the base of the mast, close to where the dinghy is stored on the boat deck. However, we couldn’t find a convenient place where we could recess the plug-in connection. After many rejected ideas, we settled on buying a weather-tight electrical junction box that will be mounted near the stairs to the flybridge and painted white to match the cabin.
We had a dry day on Monday, so I was able to clean up the teak on the swim step and boarding ladder, using the same technique and product that I used on the teak decking a few days ago (see June 3 post). After some serious scrubbing, the dirty teak cleaned up pretty good and it was so nice to see the warm teak color return.
Teak on boat deck…before cleaning.
Teak on boat deck…after cleaning.
We have a bit of exterior teak decking on our boat that we leave natural…but it has to be cleaned periodically. Even though we have our boat washed monthly over the winter, the exterior teak still accumulates dirt in the wood. By spring the teak is ready for a good cleaning. There are a number of different products that can be used to clean teak, but we like the Star brite brand.
Today was dry, so it was a good day to clean teak. While Jim worked on installing the overflow reservoir for the heating system, I got busy with the teak. I clean the teak in two steps…first by applying Star brite Teak Cleaner and scrubbing it with a stiff brush. This cleans the dirt out from the grain of the teak. After a good wash down, I let the teak dry and then apply Star brite Teak Brightener. This sits on the teak for a few minutes and then is washed off.
It always feels good to see the natural color of the teak!
Cruising With Phoenix 