Good Weather = Good Mood

Day 10. June 7, 2019.

What a difference good weather makes!

The sun was out, the birds were chirping and the boatyard was humming with lots of activity.

Today was another Fugees and scraping day.

After some strong coffee and a banana, I got on with it.

Emily came around mid morning and we worked until 6pm, stopping a couple of times for snacks and drink.

Having Emily help us has been so worthwhile. She belongs to this Women Unlimited group that is a group of qualified Nova Scotian women in the trades. They support and mentor one another, and they refer each other to local work that they know of.

It was through this group that she received her job shadow placement with the boat building company, Tern Boatworks, at Gold River Marina. So fantastic to help out a member of such an incredible group!

Not much more to report about my day except that it was tiring, dirty and tiring.

The thing with manual labour is that I can zone out and just do the work without much thought. Sometimes it's nice to not have to think, especially with all the brain work we've had to do lately.

But oh boy, am I ever sore now!

After yesterday's full body twisting and contortion for a few hours and today's repetitive scraping motion, I am salivating at the thought of a good sleep.

Matt spent most of his day working on the mast.

He stripped all of the running rigging, the jib and main halyard. A halyard is the rope you pull to raise a sail.

He also ran a messenger line up through the mast.

Basically a messenger line is essential because you can't push rope up a mast.

You tie the messenger line to the end of the line you're going to pull out so that when the old line is pulled out, the messenger line is in place.

When the new line is ready to be inserted, you tie it to the end of this messenger line that is poking out of the mast. When you pull on the messenger line to pull the new line through the mast, voila! It is in place!

This was nerve-wracking work because if the messenger line detaches from the rope in the mast, there is no way to send that new line through a 62 foot mast! Unless perhaps if you trained a mouse to do it. Now isn't that a novel idea!

Matt also got all three sheaves off. These are the pulleys on top of the mast, for the main sail, the jib and something unknown.

We are getting new sheaves made since the original ones look quite worn out. These are important in ensuring that the lines run freely without getting a kink in the line.

Showers and a load of laundry took up the evening hours.

For dinner, we just grabbed whatever food was easy and available. I had cereal, of course. Matt made a three-tier cheese sandwich.

The forecast this weekend is looking spectacular so many people want their boat launched pronto.

Unfortunately the marina does not control Mother Nature and the boating season is weeks behind. So many boats are still sitting like big marshmallows with their white plastic wrap still on... While their owners are itching to be next in line for launching.

We don't have to worry about all this jostling for the crane and trailer to launch us. It will likely still be a few weeks before we are well on our way.

Tomorrow we finish scraping the hull - not much left to do thank goodness.

Next up is using a pole sander and a hand sander on the entire hull. Sanding the surface of the hull will allow the anti-fouling paint to adhere better.

Finally, we can then paint the two coats of anti-foul. One coat per day, allowing it to dry overnight.

Keep in mind, all this hull work is weather dependent. You certainly don't want to do this when it's raining or windy.

'Tis the reality of boat life. You cannot rush the unrushable.

Morning coffee on deck today. Dress code: bad bedhead.

This manual hoisting system is near the starboard bow.

Our trusty ladder. 

Matt looks way too clean here.

Trying to get a little love...

Blisters forming

Protecting the propeller from all the paint. 

Would we make a good Pepsi ad?

Matt was summoned to help with the harder to reach parts.

Panda FACE!

Sawing off the wire eyelet so the snap-shackle can be reused when the new halyard is made.

Here is the jib halyard ready to be pulled out..... Let's hope the messenger 
line doesn't unravel halfway up the mast. Pink string is the messenger line.