How to Make a 14 Foot Boat Bigger

She might not be the youngest girl at the ball but she'll turn a head or two.

To make a 14 foot boat bigger, wax it by hand. I will admit I don't think Esmerelda has been this white as long as I've had her. She's a long way from looking new but wow what a difference a good cleaning and wax will do. Same thing happened when I had my Beetle. Shines up a like a new penny.
 With the trailer still being broke I need something to occupy my time and with a Messabout fast approaching no rest for the weary. As near as I can tell the gelcoat issues are mainly cosmetic. So what do do about the crazing and oxidation? A few hours on the internet gave me an idea but she's not worth a full hull restoration. So I decided getting the hull as clean as I could and giving it a good wax. The biggest issues were rubber scuff marks along the hull. I used an off brand magic eraser to get the worst of the marks off and applied the new Lido decals to the sides. I added the hailing port too.

The only vessel in the fleet of West Riverside. Makes her the flagship then.

Then the waxing began. I did the foredeck first to get a feel for the 3M restorer and Wax. Then it was on the hull. And that took all afternoon. After the first two feet my right arm was toast. But after a viewing of "The Perfect Storm" and a Mountain Dew it felt much better. Then another foot. Then another. Once the hull was done it was the rest of the topsides, the transom and the top of the port bench. And there I stopped. I have a friend who has kindly offered to do the rest on Monday. She'll have fun I have no doubt.
 The Typesetter will be over on Tuesday to help rig the tiller extension and "self steering" gear. I'm basing mine on what Jim had on S/V Desdemona. A bungee rigged between the the thwarts and a wooden V on the tiller. No moving parts and you can still move the tiller. It's quite brilliant. This will mean drilling into the boat and tiller but this is a boat to be sailed and if that's what I need to do, then that's what I need to do.
 I am entering uncharted waters here. When Schock built the the first Lido 14, four years before my own #1280 in 1958, single handed expedition sailing was not what he had in mind for this boat. I'm guessing the percentage of Lido's set up to do so is infinitesimally small. So small that there are no articles, no images, no mention save one Lido 14 (1964 vintage) that participated in the Texas 200. And the changes to that boat seemed to be a new tiller and the addition of reef points to the sails. So this entire project is new territory for the Lido 14 and I hope the community will benefit from it. I know I will.