Saturday, June 25, 2011

Lemony Fresh

Since day one, as I step down Sojourn’s companion way, I am always greeted with the unpleasant odor of well…… musty old boat with a hint of diesel.  Sojourn is 36 years old, leaks like most 36 year old boats, and her tired old MD7a leaked from every place imaginable, so I guess this shouldn’t come as a surprise. 

I’ve changed out the leaky old Volvo, flushed the bilge and washed the interior with simple green.  It all helped a little, and has been getting better over time, but it still was not satisfying. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a copy of This Old Boat by Don Casey.  In there he suggested wiping down the interior woodwork with plain old lemon oil.Minwax 30015 Formby Lemon Oil SIZE:8 oz.

Why not?  I found some Formby’s lemon oil at my favorite neighborhood hardware store and wiped down every piece of wood, oiled or varnished, on Sojourn’s interior. Then next day, I opened the companion way and Voila! Like changing a painting, musty old boat with a hint of diesel has been replaced with Grandma 2011-06-20_18-01-35_823Audrey’s den. 

It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but it is a fantastic improvement. I had been planning on varnishing the interior and hadn’t given much thought to what it would do visually. I wasn’t  really expecting much of a transformation, so I didn’t take before photo’s.  It was such a striking difference that I did snap a couple of quick after photos.  If it stays, I’ll likely not bother with the varnish.

 

2011-06-20_18-01-23_857

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