Hello and Happy New Year to all our readers of Antique and Classic Boat Magazine! I wish you and yours a joyous and great New Year!

Well the holidays are over and now it's time to think about our boats and the upcoming season. We always want our boat to look good because we all know that they get quite a bit of attention - everywhere we go. Be it on or off the water, people come up and want to know all about the boats - so let's make them look good.

The wintertime is a great opportunity to do some work while the boat is spending idle time in the garage or in storage. I am going to list some winter time projects that will enhance the beauty of your boat, plus be good preventative maintenance.

1. Remove all gear (life jackets, lines, anchor and personal items) and clean them thoroughly. Put them in a dry, clean place and store them until spring.

2. Remove seat backs and bottoms - again clean them well. If any staples have come loose, re-staple the area with stainless steel staples. If the wood portion needs paint or varnish, it's a great time to do it.

3. Remove the seat bases and wash them up with tri-sodium phosphate and paint with proper color bilge paint. NOTE: We have the gray and burgundy bilge paint in stock if you need some.

4. Remove the flooring, again wash them up and dry them. Re-fasten the trim metal, if necessary or if it needs replacement, we also have it in stock and the oval head screws.

5. Now the dirty job! Clean the bilge. This is a very dirty and time-consuming job, but is well worth doing. First, scrape all loose debris and sand and vacuum it out using a shop Vac and a crevice tool. Next, mix up a strong batch of Spic'n Span in warm water. Remove the garboard drain plug and put a bucket under the boat to catch excess water that will drain out. Position the boat so any bilge water will run out the drain plug. Now start at the stern if it's an inboard or at the bow, if it is an I/O or outboard and go one section between the ribs at a time. Wash it with the Spic'n Span and rinse with clear water and dry. Do it section by section. After you are finished, re-vacuum the residue left and touch up any bare areas of the bilge.

6. Clean up the engine cosmetically, using a citrus-based de-greaser; then touch up any bare paint. We have engine paint in stock.

7. Re-install the cleaned flooring. If the bottom side of the vinyl or rubber covered plywood is bare, or in need of paint - now is the time to do it. Doing this will protect the wood. NOTE: When putting your floor board down, make sure you use bronze or stainless steel screws. Also, if you need new trim metal or stainless piano hinges, we have it in stock as is the original Nautolex vinyl floor covering.

8. Put the seat bases back in.

9. Now for the good work. Varnishing the hullsides, deck and transom. I will list below the procedures that we follow to complete these tasks:

a. Remove all chrome hardware, windshield & thru-hull fittings.

b. Wash all areas to be varnished with tri-sodium phosphate, rinse and towel dry. NOTE: Do not let this run down on upholstery or varnish without wiping it off immediately. It will stain.

c. Hand-sand all areas to be varnished with 280 grit sandpaper. We use a silicone carbide sandpaper and sand it dry.

d. Now, vacuum off all dust, using a Shop Vac (with a filter inside) and a round brush. Do a good job here.

e. Next, using a tack cloth, wipe the boat down to remove any remaining dust then follow that with wiping it down with a damp cloth with a product like Interlux 216 Special Thinner, followed by a tack cloth again.

f. Apply your varnish using a "badger hair" brush or a thin foam roller and a badger hair brush and then let dry.

g. I would suggest two coats - so repeat all sanding, vacuuming, tacking, wiping and re-tacking procedures followed by a second coat of varnish.

h. If you have white deck seams, you may want to re-paint them with Interlux white boot stripe paint.

i. Mask off and paint boot stripe, if necessary.

j. Mask off and paint bottom, if necessary.

k. Polish all chrome and thru-hull fittings and apply bedding compound to only the threads of the screws when installing.

l. Thoroughly clean the boat, install the upholstery and in the spring, charge the battery, put in your personal gear and safety equipment and you'll be ready for the water and all those "ooo's and ah's."

If you or any of your friends have questions about boat work, inboard engine work, parts or supplies, have them e-mail me at woodenbts @aol.com or visit our web site at www.woodenboatshop.com or just call at 1/800-807-7281.

See you in the next issue. IF you have a question to be answered in the magazine, just give them a call at 1/866-262-8624 and say - "Ask the Pro."

Best
Jack McCarthy