Hi Ron,

 Well, it’s been almost four years since 207 was nearly wrecked in a storm after breaking free from her mooring in October of 2019. Since then, she has been completely repaired and as of last June (2022) she hit the water looking better than ever, and with a new paint job on the topsides and deck, and a new name – Osprey.

 Here are a couple before pictures, right after the storm (Photos 1-3), and some of how she looks now (Photos 4-8).

 What follows is a description of the steps we took to get from there to here. We certainly learned a lot about every corner of the boat. I’m probably forgetting several steps now, since the repairs were spread out over the last few years.

 The first task was to repair the gooseneck fitting that had sheared off. Photo 9 is what it’s supposed to look like, photo 10 is what it actually looked like.

 Next we looked at the rudder post. During the storm the boat was lifted and dropped onto the bottom over and over, which resulted in the rudder post flange being pushed up through the hull. In photo 12 you can see where we temporarily filled it with Lifecaulk so that we could make it to the travel lift without sinking. We dropped out the rudder and cleaned up the area (photo 13), then reinstalled everything and seated it with Bondo (photo 14).

 In that process we also determined that water was leaking from somewhere further aft, from the motor compartment and/or the void space just below it, between the hull and the inner cabin shell, and down into the bilge. So we installed an access point into the void space, to allow it to dry out and to make sure there weren’t any more serious issues there (photo 15).

 We also noticed an interesting leak that appeared to be coming from within the keel. Upon inspection, we learned that there is a small void space in the keel, between the bottom of bilge and the bottom off the keel. The pounding of the boat on the bay bottom had made a small hole in the keel, opening up that void space. It was also clear that the bilge was leaking into that void space, though whether that was a new development or had been the case for a long time was not clear. After much effort and trial-and-error, we managed to seal the inside of the bilge with a rubberized paint. We used a grinder to make a larger opening in the bottom of the keel in order to dry it out, then filled the void with spray foam, and repaired the hole with thickened epoxy.

 We then tackled the largest crack and some of the smaller holes on the starboard side, which was repeatedly thrown up against the bulkhead in the storm (photos 16 and 17). We ground down the large crack from the outside and inside (photos 18 and 19) and patched it with fiberglass. We had to cut away some of the cabin shell in order to access the crack from inside (photo 20). The remaining holes were either glassed or filled with thickened epoxy, and the many gouges on the topsides were filled with thickened epoxy as well (photo 21). We also did some minor repairs on the bottom of the rudder, which had taken some damage, glassing it over and shaping it with Bondo (photo 22). While we had the toe rail off (since it had been destroyed), we took the opportunity to try to address a long running problem with leaks along the rail by sealing the gaps in the clamp between the hull and the deck with thickened epoxy (photo 23).

 We then sanded the topsides, but opted to have them professionally faired and painted. We took them down the road to Bayport Marine (bayportmarinecompany.com) who did a fantastic job, including reshaping the dolphin on the cove stripe which had been damaged in the sanding. We used Awlcraft 2000, in Flag Blue, with a gold cove stripe and white boot stripe. Photo 23-a shows the color combination as well as the perfectly reconstructed dolphin.

 While all this was going on, we also made a new toe rail and cabin top rail for the starboard side, straightened out the main hatch track, which had been turned into a pretzel in the storm, and repaired cracks and holes in the main hatch itself. The starboard side shroud bolts, though mostly intact, we slightly bent, so out of an abundance of caution we asked a friend who is a metal worker to make a new set of three.

 Additionally, the pulpit and pushpit were completely destroyed. After much searching, we were able to find White Water Marine Inc. in Michigan (whitewatermarineinc.com), who did a beautiful job converting our detailed drawings (photo 24) into new rails. We also had them make new stanchions and mounts for the starboard side.

 When we got the boat back from Bayport Marine, they had done such a fantastic job with the topsides that the deck looked extra ragged and dingy by comparison. So, although we had the order a bit backwards now, we decided to strip and paint the deck. To remove the old paint, we used Total Boat Total Strip paint remover, testing it first on the main hatch (photo 25).

 Photo 26 shows the work in progress, with the side decks stripped and the Total Strip applied to the cabin top. It turned out to be very effective and relatively easy once we got the hang of it. In order to protect the newly-painted topsides from any runoff from the paint-stripper, we covered the sides with plastic, taped at the clamp. This turned out to be less than optimal – though it did keep the paint stripper off, the Awlgrip did not like having moisture held against it by the plastic, which led to some temporary loss of gloss that eventually resolved itself.

 Once the paint was stripped off, we painted the whole deck with Interlux Pre-Kote primer (photo 27). We then painted the smooth surfaces with Interlux Brightside White, and the non-skid areas with Interlux Interdeck non-skid coating in Sand Beige (photos 28, 29, 30).

 Before painting the non-skid areas, we re-attached the repaired and refinished taffrail (photo 31), one new and one old toe rail, and the stemhead fitting (photo 32). Because we had managed to remove the port side toerail intact without removing the bolts and bungs (in order to strip and repaint the deck, as well as refinish the rail itself and deal with the ongoing leakage issue), reinstallation was relatively easy. While we had the rail dry-fitted, we taped the edges, then carefully pulled the rail up to allow space underneath for the Lifefcaulk (photo 33). After caulking, pressing the rail down, and tightening all the bolts from the inside, the tape made cleaning the caulk very easy while it was still tacky (photo 34). Photo 35 shows the finished deck work, and photos 36 and 37 show the newly fabricated pulpit and pushpit.

 We also replaced the bow chocks with a pair that are larger, with a rounded outboard edge (photo 38), to cut down on wear on the mooring pennants that may have contributed to the boat breaking free in the storm. We got these from Classic Boat Supplies in Australia (https://shop.classic-boat-supplies.com.au/, for the actual part: https://shop.classic-boat-supplies.com.au/boat-hardware/fairleads-chocks/bronze-lipped-fairlead-locking/).

 It was fall by the time we finished that work, so we needed to cover the boat for the winter. Previously we had just covered it with a tarp over the mast. However, we were concerned about the tarp wearing on and holding moisture against the Awlgrip. So we devised a method to hold the tarp away from the topsides using PVC pipes fixed to the stanchion mounts (photos 39, 40, 41).

 The next spring there were only a few more things to take care of. We needed to repair the gouges on the bottom of the keel that were inaccessible while the boat as on the trailer, as well as assess any damage to the centerboard. We had the boat lifted and filled the gouges with Bondo, and did some filling and shaping on the centerboard with thickened epoxy (photos 42, 43). Fortunately, there was minimal damage to the board.

 All that was left for the bottom was a new coat of Pettit Trinidad Pro Red (photos 44, 45).

 One final repair job was replacing the port side spreader bracket. After much searching, we could not find an existing replacement part, so in the end we decided to have it 3-D printed out of aluminum, based on measurements taken from the broken piece on the remaining starboard side bracket. The finished product is almost indistinguishable from the original (photo 46).

 All that was left was to launch and appease the sea gods with libations in a renaming ceremony, and we were ready to go.

 We had a good season last summer, with a lot of racing. Unfortunately, during one race we were t-boned on a crowded starting line, and got a small puncture in our (newly painted, gorgeous) port side. We brought it back to Bayport Marine to repair the hole and touch up the paint. They did a fantastic job, and there’s no evidence of any disruption on the topsides. The only remnant is a small scar in the cabin, behind the shelving in the head (photo 47).

 In order to access the hole from the inside, we had to remove the starboard fore bulkhead and the shelving behind the head (photos 48, 49, 50). I hadn’t been planning on doing any work on the cabin for a couple years, but since we had to remove those pieces anyway, I decided to take the opportunity to refinish the trim and paint the bulkheads. I happened to have a piece of the cabin shell that we removed for an earlier repair, so I got that color-matched in Sherwin Williams Emerald Semi-Gloss, and used their Extreme Bond primer. I’m very pleased with the finished product (before and after photos 51/52, 53/54, 55/56)

 At some point we’ll refinish the rest of the cabin along the same lines, but until then, time to focus on actual sailing.