28 July 2020

No work occurred over the weekend, but on Monday 27 July, work began in earnest with hydro-blasting the mast, and pressure washing the bottom. Steve Klauck completed the restoration of the 1MC mast-mounted bullhorn and departed.  Metal work continued on the mast and stack simultaneously, with the hydro-blasting. That evening Brendan and Jack felt ambitious enough to haul the ship’s whistle up to the new whistle platform and begin its reassembly.

On Tuesday, they completed the hydro-blasting on the mast and pressure washing of the hull. The condition of the paint looked excellent! There was a question about the condition of the magnesium anodes. Brendan, Jack, and Thomas took off six, and we weighed them to get an assessment. It took a few days of research to determine that they were in much better condition than they looked. 

On Wednesday, the 29th, work continued on the mast wave guide assembly, the stack cap repair, and priming the stack. Thomas finished up repainting the pilothouse. And the month finished as the priming was completed on the mast. The stack cap repair and metalwork on the mast were completed, and preparations were made to begin sand sweeping the hull. On the last day of the month, things started coming back together. The SA air search radar was repainted, hoisted up, and bolted on the mast. The bullhorn was also hoisted into position. Preparations for sandblasting were completed.

It was just as hot in Albany as the crew started welding the skid plates on the forward gangway. They cleaned and descaled it as well as the sea wall attachment. They also laid out cargo safety net and inspected it.