Youre not alone, I have the same problem. I cant leave anything alone!
Just leave the helm attached and remove the cable.
I left the puller on the steering wheel and went back to work. I went by after work and it popped off itself with no damage to the steering wheel. Thanks guys. Looks like I'll be popping off the cap this weekend.
I've just repaired a soft spot. Fortunately underneath is still dry with not much rot. Think I will be attacking full cap off repair in my winter (6 months). Will follow with great anticipation.
I labeled all the cut wires, but I'm still a little nervous about rewiring this thing. Since I'll be doing some repair to the deck and get adding another coat of gel coat, I removed the windshields. I also took out the built in cooler tub. I don't think I'm going to replace it. I have a cooler that fits in there, but only without the lid. I may just put in a receiver guide to keep it from moving around.
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Here are a couple more pics. I started pulling up the carpet, took out the gas tank, and disconnected the steering cable from the rudder to get it out of the way. I can feel the thin laminate pull up from the soft rotten floors. The bow floor was pretty bad. Taking measurements, pulling the floor and foam tomorrow.
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Your lucky you have an undercover area to work and store the interior. Looks like a great start. The hard part (making tje decision and starting) is the hard part. Well done and good luck.
There was a boat mold in one of the shots, what's up with that?