And then it begins

So the first task of the project was cleaning the boat out. When the owner told me that "everything you could need is there," I didn't think he literally meant everything was in the boat. But everything was. Sails, life jackets, cushions, the boom, coolers, batteries, lines, fenders, assorted spare rigging parts, tools, gas tanks, safety harnesses, stove, electronics and cleaning supplies. Did I mention that the boat was uncovered, and it there was no drain at the bottom of the keel? So it was a mess...

So this is what greeted me when I opened up the boat. The picture below shows the galley, complete with an icebox that they had left drinks in over the winter...

So I spent the better part of a day removing everything and sorting it. While everything smelled a little gross, there wasn't really that much damage to anything, so it made the trip back to our house where everything dried out, and I figured out what was worth keeping and what needed to be replaced. The covers on the cushions (yellow vinyl, naturally) were covered in mildew, and the foam smelled pretty gross, and now, even after drying out for 3 years, they still do. In the course of removing everything from the boat, I found 5 wasp nests, and some old lines provided a warm home for a family of mice, but shortly all of that was cleared out. Our garage was full pretty quickly, as at the same time we were renovating our house so it was already pretty full of furniture from that endeavor, but pretty quickly the interior of the boat was looking better.