Finally, after two months of work, we are ready to launch. All the key external work has been completed that we need to accomplish in the boatyard. Now it will be off to the "fitting out" berth for work on the deck and teak and hatches and systems, etc. Expect another couple months of work required before we are ready to head out cruising again.
We had some "help" finishing up the bottom paint. Sue put on the final 3rd coat along the waterline and Reed, who's here for the week, helped put some extra paint on the rudder where the propwash wears on it.
Meanwhile, I cleaned and polished the hull on Sunday and waxed it on Monday. We removed the boot stripe tape Sunday after finishing the water line bottom painting. The lines look pretty good and the new boot stripe is a big improvement over my last attempt.
This year we are trying out PropSpeed on the prop as I was able to get a good deal on a supply of PropSpeed. We'll see if the anti-fouling performance of PropSpeed is worth the price. I dont think it can ever be worth the retail price. The best anti-fouling is to not let the boat sit at the pier for extended periods - that's going to be my goal now (once we have all systems go for cruising).
We launch on Wednesday. Hopefully the engine will start and run properly. We'll check out the new cutlass bearing and stuffing box work by the yard and make sure all is working properly. Then its repositioning back to Dare Marina for final fitting out if all goes well this week.
