The paint had failed on the doors that lead under the flybridge (I don’t know the official name for them). I took them home and went to work removing the old finish. I don’t know when they were last painted or with what kind of paint. The finish was dull. Maybe flat house paint?
Wow! It has taken me way too long to get back to the blog and get this written. Apologies to anyone who may have been eagerly waiting for the final outcome. Too much work and other projects not related to boating have gotten in the way. And to be honest, sometimes I just loose the urge to blog for a little while. But it’s back. And I have a few projects to talk so it is time to get this done.
We caught the early Coho ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria and a cab to Canoe Cove to pickup the boat. We met Don at the boathouse, fired up the boat and headed to Customs at Roche. Our plan was to get across the strait that night. The wait for Customs took a while. Quite a while. An hour. There was a just one sailboat ahead of us. While we waited, we had a nice chat with the gentleman from the sailboat. His name is Björn. Together with his wife (who was talking to Customs), they have been sailing their boat, Moon, around the world for the last fifteen years. After Customs, we headed south in the hopes of crossing the strait before dark. We soon realized we wouldn’t have time for that so we diverted to Aleck Bay at the south end of Lopez Island.
Almost done …
It’s been cold and wet in Sidney. The brightwork is progressing just a bit slower than planned. We should have had the boat back by now, but the cold and wet weather has delayed the return by a couple of weeks. Don at Avalon Brightwork was kind enough to send me some photos of the progress.
As these photos show, it was clearly time for some serious brightwork TLC.
We left Poulsbo early last Friday morning headed for Sidney, BC. Our destination was Avalon Brightwork in Sidney. It’s time for a little brightwork TLC on our old boat. The weather was great for the beginning of our trip. Winds were calm, sunrise was pretty, and the tide was ebbing in our favor most of the way north. A nice day to be on the boat.
As the title suggests, we have not been kind to ours. We expect our dinghy to transport us to shore and back, take us exploring, adventuring, joyriding, and perhaps even rescue us in the event of an emergency. Yet we treat ours poorly. Not intentionally. We always have the best of intentions. I’d call it benign neglect.
We’ve had our boat a bit over six years now. The inflatable came attached to the stern. Back in early ’12, we installed new davits, seats, steering, and a new 20 hp Tohatsu outboard. For anyone wishing to relive that exciting story, visit this post.
Since that time, the dinghy has lived on the davits on the back of our boat. Good weather and bad. Tipped up on the stern, it’s convenient to use, but not to work on. We wash it and keep it mostly clean, but that’s just about the extent of our care. As for the motor, I check the oil from time to time. I also check to make sure it is still firmly attached to the dinghy.
The most recent abuse came from sitting in salt water for a month while our boat was in the yard. Barnacles and various slimy things were growing on it when we finally pulled it out of the water. Yuck.
