Door rollers and other spring jobs

 Last week, we were still waiting for the new sliding glass rollers to arrive. This week they finally got here and we were anxious to get them installed and get the sliding glass door remounted.

Once we had the new rollers in hand, we were able to take everything apart on the bench at home. We took the mounting bolts off and we were able to slide out the old rollers.

The new rollers we had ordered were an almost exact match. It was just a matter of sliding the new roller in and tightening the mounting bolts.

Here is one of the rollers installed and unlike to old rollers, the little wheels actually turn. The Phillip-head bolt next to the screwdriver goes through the side of the door frame and into the roller to hold everything in place.

Once back on the boat, we simply tapped the bottom section of the door back into place and tightened the mounting bolts.

Then, it was time to pick up the door and put it back on the track. We found that there was only one spot where the door would clear the track and drop into place but once it was there, how nice to have the door silently slide open and closed.

We also had to reinstall a plastic strip between the top of the door and the frame. It went in with a little extra effort. Just think: now we know how to rehab the sliding door on an old Silverton. Hopefully, this is the last time we'll ever have to do this.

While looking at the installation of residential sliding doors on the internet we picked up a recommendation for a sliding door lubricant called 3-In-One Garage Door Lube. We bought some at Lowes and tried it on our garage door openers. This is a silicone-based lubricant that really works. All of our door squeaks and groans disappeared. We also applied it to the new sliding glass door rollers and to the track after we cleaned it. This is definitely a lube the we'll keep on the boat.

Once the door was back in place, it was time to take down the canvas roof from the fly bridge and take it home for its annual cleaning and waterproofing. This is always a joke, since no matter how we try to remove it, we always end up with it tangled over our head. This year was no exception but we did get it off the boat and home for a thorough power-washing.

Most of the bird crap came off as did lots of  dirt.

On Sunday (Easter) morning, the top was dry and the weather warm. We waterproofed the top with 303 Marine/Recreational Fabric Guard. We use this stuff every year and it does a great job of waterproofing Sunbrella, even material as old as ours.

We took the top back to the boat and re-installed it. We say "re-installed" it but actually it's an annual fight to get the top up over the mounting bows. With the top up over our heads, it's really dark and it seems to take forever to get the top in place and zipped down properly.

Then we re-installed the 13 side windows, each of which snaps to the top and zippers on each side. We used zipper lube but it still took us about an hour to get them all back up.  We'll wash those thoroughly once we get back in the water.

To finish off a fun day on the boat, we added a third coat of Sikkens Cetrol to the swim platform. That going to be it for rehabing the platform. Later this week, we'll add a new rub rail around the edge and scratch that job off our list.

Video of all this stuff and more is posted below.

We only have about three weekends left before we go back into the water and there is still lots to do. No big deal. We love this stuff!