May 29, 2014

Another tiring week in the boat yard.  Back in the water a few hours ago.  Bottom line (no pun intended):  got done everything I had to and most of what I wanted to.  Luck was mixed.  Lost a brand new quart of Primo stain/sealer to a fluke accident and couldn't replace it locally before I had to get back in the water.  On the other hand, I was able to get a quart of Vivid red bottom paint that the yard had left over from another job that coincidentally was using it.  That was a big break because Vivid red is no longer available in quarts, which was all I needed for the waterline stripe.  Jose and crew did just a bit more work, and  brought the finished hatches to the yard.  One of the yard crew used the fork lift to hoist the large, heavy engine room hatch up to the boat for me.  Jose also buffed out some scratches on the blue topsides paint where the hull had rubbed against the anchor chain.
I'll head back to Ventura in the morning when things are usually calm. It will be good to settle back into my home slip!

May 22, 2014

Tense week.  Brought the boat from Ventura Harbor to Channel Islands harbor to be hauled out for bottom paint and to allow Jose to spray the AwlGrip in the yard.  Although I timed the trip perfectly, there was a lot more swell than usual, so the trip was very rolly. Damn near lost my little surf kayak that was temporarily stowed with a lot of other stuff in the dink while the deck and cabin were being painted.  I managed to secure it enough to make it the seven miles, though, and arrived at the yard within moments of the appointed time.  Got the boat into the yard's haulout bay just fine even though both friends who were supposed to help me flaked out at the last minute.  The good news was that there were no unpleasant expensive surprises revealed when the boat came out of the water.

In the yard, Jose and his helper hurried to finish masking and cleaning so they could spray the next day.  It seemed too windy to me, but Jose went ahead anyway.  That caused some defects in the results, which I wasn't happy about.  Jose is now working to fix the problems, including respraying some areas.  I'm cautiously optimistic that it will be okay in the end. When Jose's activities allow, I've been working hard to strip and sand the teak rub rails, but now I have to juggle what I do around both Jose and the yard.  And of course all my usual routines are topsy-turvy, but it all seems to be working out. With a holiday weekend coming up, I think I'll have enough time to get it all done without extra lay days at $80 each.  Still, it's tough to make predictions when things are not in my control.  So stay tuned....

Did my first outrigger race of the season Saturday.  And yes, I'm tired and sore from all of the above!