Life in the Boatyard

We were booked to be launched into the water on 1st August so had just over 2 weeks in the hot, dusty, dirty boatyard! We have a lot of work to do to the hull as she hasn’t been anti fouled for 12 years.

We spent the first few days clearing out everything that we have had on board for 12 years and not used, to make space for the new paraphernalia that we had bought with us (any excuse not to have to start on the big jobs). After a few days, we realised that we can’t put it off any longer and eventually got our respirators and safety goggles on and started work on the hull, scraping and sanding. It was hard work.

The keel was rusty in places so that all had to be ground out. After 5 days and looking like a smurf at the end of each, we finally got to put the primer on. This made her look so much better.

We then sanded and painted the propeller cleaned the topsides, sanded and painted the boot stripes, replaced the anode, and repaired a few little dents in the gel coat. A couple of coats of anti foul and we were ready for launch at last.

Made good use of all the tools and decorating equipment which we had brought with us, but we found that our favourite power tool was definitely the ice maker!! This turned out to be an essential item in the heat and was running for at least a couple of hours a day.

Time in the boatyard was hard work, hot dirty, we ended up with a few scrapes, scratches and bruises, but there was a lovely sunset each night for sundown drinks, luckily we had plenty of alcohol (and ice) on board!