Even work is fun!

Just in case you think we have been shirking our boat duties, I can assure you that work is going on apace.
Fill holes, sand them down, then repeat. When it is done to your satisfaction, do again with finer sandpaper! Chris also ground down some of our above water blisters, re-glassed them and they look pretty darned good. Frank, from the yard, glassed the larger holes where our no-longer-needed instruments were, and you would never know they had been there.

See? It's fun!

After lots (and lots) of sanding we got our first base coat sprayed on the topsides on November 20th. Woo Hoo!

We spent a couple of nights in the local motel as the fumes were too strong to stay on the boat and returned to find the boatyard had already started filling (with pink) some more spots made visible by the new coat of paint. If you do this soon enough after the spraying you can miss out the sanding to prep for that session. We're all for that! Then you sand again to get ready for the next coat of paint!

Just starting the first spraying. Frank and Frankie worked for over 3 1/2 hours to do the topsides, excluding the anti-skid areas. It looks great!

Sanding has it's side effects. We have taken our wedding rings off after we noticed them getting smaller by being sanded away. And our fingertips are getting the same treatment as the boat. The rough outer skin is sanded off to reveal tender, pink, perhaps bleeding skin beneath. We have it on good authority that by the time you get down to really fine grit paper your fingers are so smooth that, to quote, "the girls really like it". Hmmmm

Some people think we must be getting a little disgruntled with all the boat work, but not at all. We don't want to take any longer than we have to, but we realize this is not a quick job. It will take as long as it will take. In the meantime we are learning so much about our boat that we really feel this is a great opportunity.

White with pink spots - it could catch on...

Russ and Lilly treated ourselves and another family of cruisers to a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner at their house. Russ works at the yard and very kindly thought that we might enjoy a home cooked holiday meal. I always thought I could cook a pretty mean turkey but this one beat me. The secret, I'm told, is to inject it with marinade and basting sauce as it cooks. Along with ham, yams, beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing and a host of other traditional fare we ate the best meal we have enjoyed in a long time.

Two days later and Chris and I were out to Urbanna, at yet another meal, hosted on a self-built wooden boat by some very nice people we met at the yard. It's amazing to be in a boat that someone has built completely themselves. This was a lovely and very roomy boat, complete with a small wood stove to heat the inside. They are getting ready for a trip to Bermuda.

We have met so very many kind, generous and really nice people while we have been on the boat. I can't imagine a more pleasant life.