Skagit 20 Offshore Restoration

It took some doing, but the trailer is free of the boat. The following steps were involved: 1.      - Lower the trailer tongue to raise the stern 2.      - Build a cradle to support the stern 3.      - Raise the tongue and pull the trailer out from underneath o     tie the transom to a tree conveniently located about 20' behind the boat o     jack up and block the bow of the boat o     slowly pull the boat forward until the bow cribbing meets a trailer crossmember o     repeat until the trailer is about halfway out 4.      Build another cradle a bit aft of amidships o     Repeat above until the trailer is nearly free of the boat 5.      Block up the keel near the bow The numbers and bullets make it sound easy, but it was tedious and a bit nerve-wracking. Here is the story in pictures: Cradle for the stern. Sheathed in 1/2" OSB for shear strength. I made a template with craft paper to get maximum contact along the breadth of the h

Painting Now that the rebuild of the stern is complete the Offshore is ready to get on the water! Of course it's lacking a motor and looks like crap, but theoretically I could launch and paddle around! At some point I also need to get the boat off the trailer, clean up the latter, and have it inspected by Washington State Patrol so it can be licensed and legal. Haven't figured out the best way to do that, but will soon. Good preparation is the key to a successful paint job, so because the paint is so old it is necessary to strip it all off, down to the gel coat. There were three coats of paint: gray primer, white, then blue on the trim. All of the coats were sprayed, probably using enamel paint. Not having any history of the boat I can only guess this was done in the 80s or maybe earlier, based on the pervasive fading. Partially sanded side deck showing three coats of paint over the original red gel coat. I've been stripping the old paint off the topsides using a