Magic Goo!

This past week I received something in the mail that might have been sent from heaven! It is called Mckanica Silicone Remover and it will be worth its weight in gold if it works as advertised.

I did a test on a small area of one of the frames. You might be able to see an area of silicone on the right that is darker than the rest. That is my test area where I applied some of the magic goo.

I let it sit overnight although the directions say 2 to 3 hours. Hey, the Heat game was on, ok? This morning I checked it and IT WORKED! The silicone from hell peeled right off like it was not supposed to be there, which in my mind, it wasnt. You can see the now clean area on the right.

Hallelujah! Although I will have to sit and dab it on with a small brush or something, it sure beats the alternative. The alternative is destructive grinding with an abrasive and quite honestly that might not even do the trick.

In other news, I removed the old 1" cockpit drains. Once again, the bolts were ridiculously longer than they needed to be. They could have used a 1" long bolt but noooooo they used 2-1/2" long. They were bronze for a change but heavily corroded. Since I am working alone and my patience is thin, I backed the nuts off (small visegrips tied to a string on the nut and me in the cockpit with a screw driver) far enough to bend and break the bolts. Not text book procedure but it is my boat!

I will be replacing them with these babies.

Those are 2" Marelon cockpit drains. The strainers are 4" nickel floor drains. Installing these will require some ingenuity but I think I have a good method in mind. Something that was suggested by an old pro in one of the boat forums I frequent. More on that later.

This weekend I begin re coring the decks and also some hole repairs. The weather forecast is perfect, I have three full days and plenty of beer so lets see how far I can get!