A Life in Norway: Out with the Old, In with the New

Part of our getting settled into life in Norway has involved getting settled into living on a boat. As many of you know, we've been living on Sophia for five months already as we sailed to Norway from the west coast of Mexico. Living on a boat while cruising (and with 1 to 3 other people) is a very different type of living than when tied up to a dock and trying to have some semblance of a "normal" life. Part of it has been to organize, clean, reorganize, and remove unneeded items.

One Organizing Session

Sophia' Stowage Space Diagram

Andreas drew a diagram of Sophia's stowage areas (see photo). You would think that there is plenty of space, but somehow it fills up very quickly. You can see us in the midst of one organization session!

Grandpa Bob Overseeing Our Efforts

Too, there were some projects that we set aside until we arrived in Norway. All of that to say that Karl has been digging into Sophia's nether regions and finding, well, yuckiness.

A bit of a caveat is needed. Sophia is no spring chicken; she's over 30 years and, as many of you know, some things just degrade over time. Add to that some leaks and wear, not to mention 5 months of very heavy use, and who wouldn't be a little rough under the collar?

So, Karl began poking around the wood that lines the inside of the hull in areas that we know had been leaking. This wood is all superficial (in other words, not structural to the hull) covering the fiberglass hull, and included a layer of plywood under the teak strips. Alas, the plywood was mostly rotten in the areas around the chainplates (notoriously leaky), so out it came along with the teak strips. This occurred in the hanging locker and behind the dinette settee, and will soon in the pullman berth. Karl cleaned (there was a lot of mildew) and painted the fiberglass inside the hanging locker (no real good reason to install new teak inside a closet) and the storage area behind the dinette settee. Then, Karl rebuilt the shelf and storage cabinet behind the dinette settee. The series of the project is below. Quite an improvement!