I started reinsulating the ice box by removing all the shelves and trims of which there was an amazing amount. I then lined the box with 1" pink styrofoam. I will put plywood over this and then fiberglass it all in. The ice box will be considerably smaller but then we barely even use it.
I then winterized the motor. I also removed an old transducer plug which was located in the very bottom of the bilge. I then filled the hole with fiberglass and epoxy. Then I started on the cutlass bearing project. All the bolts on the shaft coupler came off easily enough ( surprisingly). It is weird how Cape Dory did this. There is a rubber shaft log which is hose clamped to a stern bearing but the hose clamps are buried inside the hull and there is no way to reach them or check on them. After much pulling and swearing I finally got the prop off and the shaft out. The stern bearing though had to be pried off and I destroyed some of the fiberglass that surrounds it.
I then set about rebuilding and hopefully reinforcing the area around this. The top bolt came out fine but I suspected the bottom bolt was fiberglassed in so I just left it.
I did buy a new hose and will wait until spring to finish this and align the motor.
I did some more rewiring as the battery cables were a hodge podge of wires and connections. Turns out one of the gel batteries had failed and needs to be replaced.
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