Chappaquiddick Wildfire Preparedness Day is this coming Sunday, Nov. 2. At the Chappy fire station from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. you can learn how to keep your family, pets, home and island safe against wildfire. Did you know that Dukes County has an Island-wide plan for dealing with wildfire? You can sign up for emergency notifications, get a close-up look at the wildland fire truck and get your picture taken with Smokey Bear.

People are curious about what we do to the ferry when it is hauled out in Vineyard Haven for Coast Guard inspection and maintenance. The Coast Guard inspector was here on Monday and examined the ferry inside and out. The vessel passed with flying colors.

The usual maintenance routine is to clean the barnacles and weed from the hull, rudders and propeller shafts using electric powered wire brushes. A two-day process which is very tiring for the arms as the tools are held overhead. The propellers are removed and taken to New England Propeller in Plymouth for reconditioning. The layer of fiberglass covering the entire hull sometimes needs mending in a couple of spots. Two coats of anti-fouling paint will be applied to the underwater portion of the hull.

As a precaution, vital wear parts which are most easily replaced while the vessel is high and dry will be renewed this time around. The thrust bearings which transfer the force of the propellers to the hull get replaced long before they begin to wear out. Likewise, the very important seals which keep water from entering where the propeller shafts exit the hull are restored with all new parts. The universal joints connecting the drive motors to the propellers had to come off to access the thrust bearings and shaft seals, so they get their moving parts renovated now as well.

Those of you who were around during the early days of the On Time ferryboats will remember that the area of the deck driven on by vehicles used to be wooden planks, known as running boards, held in place by hundreds of nails. Those planks would warp in the sun and split under the constant assault by heavy trucks. Those hundreds of nails would also work loose, allowing water to seep through the layer of fiberglass into the plywood deck. Regardless, the planks protected the deck from wear and tear from the passage of thousands of tires.

Over time, new methods were used to provide a running board surface that could be replaced as it was worn thin. Roy Hayes used plywood which came with a factory applied non-skid surface. Each sheet was held down with six bolts. As the surface wore off, various non-skid paints were tried. The most effective and still in use is rubberized urethane pickup truck bedliner. However, that plywood was exposed to the elements and deteriorated over a short time. Plus, the bolts worked loose from the constant flexing of loads passing over and caused trouble by letting water into the decking.

So, we decided to make running boards by securely bolting down one inch thick plywood and encapsulating it with fiberglass. The chief goal was to eliminate the holes in the deck surface by sealing the bolts from the elements. It has lasted for many years. As expected the rubber bedliner needs reapplication yearly. Eventually, however, the fiberglass layer on top of the plywood develops fissures which allow water to enter. Just as potholes grow larger in asphalt roads when a tire impacts a puddle, the little bit of water between the fiberglass and plywood gets forced along ahead of a rolling tire. This causes the fiberglass to further separate from the plywood and also invites more water into the plywood layers. Pretty soon you have punky wood and more fractures in the fiberglass.

This layer of plywood is not part of the structure of the ferryboat hull. It only serves to protect the integrity of the deck below. We can arrest the spread of deterioration by renovating isolated areas. The sections near the ends of the boat get beat up the worst and now it’s to the point where it will be more sensible to remove a whole sheet of plywood and to put down brand new material in its place. This work depends on dry weather and there are many steps to the process, so fingers crossed for sunny skies.

Enjoy an extra hour of sleep this Sunday when the clocks get set back.