Once I got the cover off, I found that during the storm the severe rains had been driven under the aft end of the cover, and indeed the wind had actually pushed the cover forward on the boat, with all of the stakes pulling up out of the super-saturated mud. This allowed rainwater to pour in through the lazarette hatch, which cover I had taken off the boat so that I could varnish it over the winter. When I slid open the companionway hatch I was greeted with a powerful blast of diesel-ey odor and the sight of floating hatches and debris in the main cabin. The rainwater had filled the bilge to 2 or 3 inches above the main cabin sole. Which then sat for a week between the storm and the point that I finally got the cover off the boat.

After the initial dismay, I pumped the bulk of the water out using an elctric sump pump (no batteries onboard, so the bilge pump was out, and I certainly wasn't going to pump it all out by hand.). I then drilled a hole as low in the bilge area as I could from the outside of the boat to allow the rest of the water to drain.

The interior of the boat now needs a serious scrubbing, and the sole, which sat submerged in slightly oily bilgewater for a full week now needs to come out. The old sole was pretty awful, so it's no great loss, but it adds a lot of unexpected work to my spring commissioning schedule!

An updated project list for spring currently looks like this:

• Serious scrubbing of bilge and interior with simple green.
• General overall interior cleanup
• Install garboard plug in hole in the bilge.
• Remove old sole and floors.
• Replace same.
• Remove damaged anchor platform and replace with new.
• 5 coats of varnish, minimum, on toe rail.
• Install documentation numbers to USCG spec.
• Wire running lights.
• Repair loose fuel fill, and make replacement gasket for fuel tank inspection port.
• Commission engine.
• Replace mast stand-off for Windex, damaged over the winter.

I'm sure that more will come to light as I progress. Stay tuned for a busy spring!