Thrilling Installment
So there we were, deep in the jungles of Trinidad. The air was alive with all manner of creature: mosquito, scarlet ibis, bat. The dense canopy of trees pressed in on all sides. The living ground rose up to meet our feet. All of a sudden, directly in front of us, a howler monkey stood, arms raised in a warning, mouth dripping blood.
Uhhh, unless howler monkeys are vegetarians.
Arms raised in a warning, mouth dripping mashed bananas. A horrible wail escaped his vicious lips. He towered over us.
Uhhh, actually, I think howler monkeys are fairly petite.
OK. It's all a lie. But it's better than what's really been going on. I've been working at replacing the hundreds of bungs that have come out of the deck. Our deck, you see, is teak. Each plank is screwed to the underlying fiberglass, and each screw has been countersunk, the hole being filled with a small teak plug. When the deck wears thin, as it does after twenty-five years, the thin teak plugs tend to pop out. So, I remove each screw, deepen the hole, replace the screw after putting some caulk on it to prevent water intrusion, then hammer a new bung in place and chisel the top flush with the deck. Very rewarding work. I've included a picture so y'all can share my misery.
Uhhh, unless howler monkeys are vegetarians.
Arms raised in a warning, mouth dripping mashed bananas. A horrible wail escaped his vicious lips. He towered over us.
Uhhh, actually, I think howler monkeys are fairly petite.
OK. It's all a lie. But it's better than what's really been going on. I've been working at replacing the hundreds of bungs that have come out of the deck. Our deck, you see, is teak. Each plank is screwed to the underlying fiberglass, and each screw has been countersunk, the hole being filled with a small teak plug. When the deck wears thin, as it does after twenty-five years, the thin teak plugs tend to pop out. So, I remove each screw, deepen the hole, replace the screw after putting some caulk on it to prevent water intrusion, then hammer a new bung in place and chisel the top flush with the deck. Very rewarding work. I've included a picture so y'all can share my misery.
posted by S/V Delilah | 1:26 PM
1 Comments:
I feel your pain. I too have some bungs to replace on my 31 year old teak teck (on the 35 year old wooden boat I've recently acquired). I also have two leaks to identify and fix. I learned a valuable lesson the other day. It turns out that if you turn off your bilge pump that the bilge can fill up with water. Funny that...
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