Launch Postponed

It’s a gorgeous day for launch. It’s expected to get up to 24 c by Sunday and that’s perfect weather for outdoor work.

As we boarded the Yacht club’s tender (taxi) to go the club at 8:15 am, we were greeted with the news that Launch had been cancelled for the weekend. The starter motor for the winch had broken down.

This did not stop people from heading to their boats. In fact, it gave us all an extra 2 days to shorten the to-do list. The first job at hand was to put the new name on the boat – both bow and stern. Great care must be taken to place the letters on the boat – no boat owner wants a tilted name! There was great excitement for us and other club members as David put the final letters in their place. The name looks fitting for such a fine yacht!

With this fabulous weather, we decided with Sophie, who returned for another working weekend, to repaint the deck with non-skid paint. Last year, when we were sailing Amanzi, we noticed that the decks were very slippery when they were wet. As you can imagine, when you’re on a boat, and the decks are wet and the boat is healed (tilted), you need something that will prevent you from slipping when you walk on the deck. It’s all about being safe and preventing accidents.

So, we bought a special marine paint, called non-skid, that contains grit. This grit makes the surface feel like a fine sandpaper. When it’s applied to the deck, it prevents you from skidding or sliding.

To complete this job, we had to tape off the areas we wanted to repaint, then sand off the old non-skid surface and apply the new paint. With the temperature at 24 c and no wind, it was perfect painting conditions. The first coat was completed in 2 days. She’ll need another coat before we leave.

It was great to get to this job done unexpectedly, and we’re looking forward to launch next weekend.