It's a grim subject an probably the worst thing that can happen on a boat. Now unexpectedly work has taken a very difficult turn.

As boat fires go Veritas was lucky. No other boats were involved and no one was injured. Credit goes to nearby live aboards who noticed the acrid smoke and held off the progress of fire until the Annapolis Fire Department responded.

The smoke has coated almost every surface. Heat damaged the headliner and melted various platic items. The fire started under the saloon table from an external power cord. The boats electral system was not affected.

The first step was to clean up the mess. I did a lot of this on my own by removing all the tools and parts that were on the boat. I also removed the SSB, light fixtures and the stove. Then we hired Prestige Detailing LLC to clean all the surfaces.

Work is slow this time of the year. It is already the middle of January. The estimate for repairing the damage is high and there is the temptation of doing the work myself. It is difficult to imagine how much more it would have been if I had not taken on part of the work. To clean and repair the cabin lamps required more than 40 hours.

The damage is significant, though not too deep.

Back to the lights. At first replacing the light fixtures made sense but, after cleaning a few the results were satisfying. Several needed repairs. Only a few will need to be replaced.

The repairs are underway. The process is slow and I find that the work need to be checked carefully. Some results are very good. For example repairs to the cabin sole.