Faucets, Sink Drains and Mast Steps – Oh My!

We’ve been busy working on Tango since she was hauled out of the H2O almost 6 weeks ago. She is completely torn apart and while we’ve made some headway on things, we still have a long way to go…

What a mess!

Poor Tango!

We took advantage of the long holiday weekend and the great weather we’ve had to get a few things done on the boat. Our to-do list is literally pages long and it seems like each time we mark one item off, another 2- 3 get added. Or, what we think will only take 2hrs to do, end up taking 2 days because we don’t have the right tools or materials. I guess that is to be expected when we’re refitting a 16yr old boat, which was built in Taiwan so nearly everything is metric and hasn’t had much, if any, preventive and periodic maintenance done on her. So why would this weekend be any different? We had an old faucet which I didn’t care for and thought it was an eyesore (it was at one point white, I think, but had turned to a dingy yellow color), so we decided to replace it. With Tango we wanted a higher faucet neck because the one we have now on Knotty sits relatively low so it makes it difficult to clean pots and pans. So we got a really nice sterling silver faucet from Lowes and two new drains (the old ones were extremely corroded and rusty) which we figured the replacement would be a one day job. Well three days later, it still is not complete, but we are getting there. The faucet went in with no major issues (J did a great job and its looks awesome!), the drains did as well (with the exception of the quick trip to Lowes to get plumbers putty) but the plumbing under the sink has been the clincher. The two drains were routed, let’s say a bit unconventionally so we’re still fighting with the plumbing portion. We figure may as well do it right now, and not have to deal with fixing it again later… Here’s hoping we can get that one done and marked off our list soon!

The old faucet...

The new faucet...

When we hauled Tango for the season, we took off her mast so that we could work on that as well. That too has its own to do list which is at least a page in length. Our mast is keel stepped which means it does not connect to the boat on the deck but rather, it goes through the boat all the way to the keel and rests there. Keel stepped is preferred for offshore sailing.

The mast step was covering in dirt and debris and needed to be cleaned up before we could inspect it and determine if that too would need replacement. After using the good ole Shop-Vac and some Prism Polish which I should add is by far my favorite cleaning, polishing, corrosion prevention/treatment product – if you could use it as hair conditioner, I probably would! This stuff is amazing! Anyway, after getting it all cleaned it looks like there is some surface corrosion which needs to be removed and treated (again, took one item off the list and added two more) but it looks like we’ll be able to salvage this one and not have to replace it.

Mast Step BEFORE (bottom 3/4 cleaned with Prism Polish)

AWESOME stuff!

Mast Step - AFTER

While on the topic of the mast, yesterday I spent a little while on the task of removing the existing rigging (while J continued to battle with the plumbing under the sink). We didn’t have a full day at Tango due to the usual weekend errands and we had a New Year’s celebration to attend, hosted by our good friends S & A, but I wanted to at least get it started. We’ve already ordered all the new wire for the rigging, and we plan to do it ourselves, but the first step is getting off the old. I was able to remove the upper fittings, the intermediate and the port lower fittings before we had to call it a day. Hopefully tomorrow I can finish that task and move on to removing and treating the corrosion on the mast – fun, fun!!