Sunday, April 21, 2013

Whirlwind prep for haulout, plus


Next weekend I will be hauling Aeolus out for bottom paint, a new transmission, deck painting and whatever else I can fit in. So this weekend, I went to Aeolus to do the prep work for the haulout and take care of a few miscellaneous items on the To Do list. It was a whirlwind effort, and I barely sat down until time for dinner each night.

New KiwiGrip on Port Cockpit side
This shows a before picture of removing the teak and dealing with the 5200


One of my primary tasks was to thoroughly scrub and clean the topsides in preparation for putting KiwiGrip on the deck. The original gelcoat surface has worn smooth, and it has become too slippery standing at the mast to raise sail and reef on the sloping dome of the cabin top area. I'd slipped too often for comfort. So I started off my weekend by doing a very, very thorough job of scrubbing the entire deck with normal deck soap. Hit all the nooks and crannies etc. One of my other goals is to paint the hull stripe, which is long overdue as the original blue gelcoat is beyond resurrection. I've rubbed, and polished, and waxed and loved and polished and waxed that darn hull stripe and no matter what I do it needs it again in six months. Forget it. Time to paint with Perfection Mauritious Blue, a gorgeous two part epoxy deep blue color that will look beautiful for years with almost no maintenance.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Why do we go?

We are just returned from another wonderful weekend sailing in the San Juan's, and just before leaving we were asked by some dear friends about how much trouble it must be to gather ourselves and the boys together to make these trips. In essence, they were asking why we go. Why do we go to all the trouble for just a weekend?

I've heard this question from people before, and I am always dumfounded by it. It is asked with full interest and sincerity, and without any hint of judgment, and yet the affect on me is as though someone has asked me to explain why I breathe air. It is nearly impossible for me to know where to start.

Perhaps you also go, and get asked this question, and feel similarly unable to craft a reply that rings true to what you believe?