The pump truck with the power sprayer was finally delivered this morning so we donned our rain gear, sprayed, scrubbed, washed and sprayed some more. We will be ready to paint IF the weather is good tomorrow.
That short little paragraph doesn't sound like much, but it took the whole day and a lot of energy! I can barely lift my arms to feed myself! Just before drifting off to sleep the thought crossed my mind that the boat seems a lot bigger now that it did the first day. I don't know if it is because we are clearing out all the junk so we have more space or if we just wear ourselves out every time we brush, scrub and hose it down every inch!
We took the bowsprit off - no small task! It is so heavy- Ryan (from Northern Enterprises) held it up with a forklift while we unbolted it then he hauled it off to some unknown storage pile in the back of the boatyard. This could be a mistake, but right now we are only thinking far enough ahead to get finished up with the immediate needs - getting launched and to Kodiak with a liveaboard - so we are not planning to rig sails and all that entails. Those thoughts are too far in the future and way to far into our checkbook! Since the harbormaster charges by your overall length we could knock 6 to 8 feet off by removing this beast.
Wednesday April 5-2006
Big day today! - weather cooperated, we painted! By the way, I was right last night - it is bigger and gets bigger with every layer and coat and every trip around the hull. The Sea Glass is now black hull with a white wheelhouse but no identification/name painted yet. Someone in the yard said we just look guilty, like maybe we're a rum runner or something! He just calls us the "big black no name boat"! Unfortunately, I've lost the picture of us at this point.
We did the first coat of sealer (2 part epoxy) that you can only mix one gallon at a time - you have to get it on pronto once you mix it and a quantity more than that goes off on you before you can use it all. A little frantic in the process, but 3 1/2 hours and 5 gallons later we were finishing up the last little bits of brush work. We were tired and cold when we got done - hot showers, food and bunks felt pretty darn good! Funny how small ordinary things become so wonderful! If the weather holds we'll have to do the same thing again tomorrow with a 2nd coat of sealer...I can't wait...
Thursday April 6-2006
Second coat of sealer today, it didn't take quite as long- we had our system down but it was harder to see where you had been.
The guy from the hydraulic shop came today to finish up the work on the rudder, then we checked in with the mechanic. We have to keep a fire lit under him and our project in his mind - he is popular and pretty busy, then we knocked off for the day. It doesn't help that there is a big derby going on so he is especially in demand! I guess his business name is appropriate - In Demand Marine.
It doesn't sound like much when writing this, but it was a hard working two days that wore us out! Maybe we aren't as young as we used to be!
