Icebox removal

     Oh so cold out there today.  There is ice in the creek but I can't seem to get a picture to turn out very well.  Pretty cool seeing the paths the boats make as they putt along.  I got my chores for the day done (hanging Christmas lights and wrapping presents) so off to the boat I go.

     I didn't really have a plan on what I was doing today when I went out there, but after feeling how cold it is out I decided I needed to work close to the heater.  It is set up under the last step of the ladder blowing into the salon.  So..... icebox removal it is.

     The screws on the molding and support rails and everything else holding the icebox in place were so rusted I didn't even bother trying to unscrew them.  Time for the hammer and crowbar, or so I thought.   Everything pulled apart so easily I felt silly with the big tools in my hand.  How can anything on a 48 year old boat be this easy?  The entire icebox slid right out, as you can see on the left.  The insulation on this was laughable.  I can see why everyone gets rid of this.  I may have spoken too soon about easy though.  It seems that the icebox is too big to fit through the entrance.  Great.  Enter the sawz-all, maybe my favorite tool of all time.  A couple of quick cuts and I was back in business.  I seem to be good at making piles of trash out in the cockpit.  This process left a pretty big hole there to figure out what to do with.  It did make it easier to pull a bunch of wiring out that was running back behind there, so that's a plus.

     I then did a bit of picking up to make everything a bit more presentable.  It is amazing how quickly the boat fills up with crap.  I removed the back of the settee on the port side too.  The boat looks so much bigger inside without the cushions and stuff inside.  The boat is emptying out, and my barn is filling up.

     The last thing I did before taking off for the day was dig through the stuff I had ripped out to see if I could find any more evidence of my hull number.  Score!  I have to think that the same number in two separate places settles that question.