Ready to splash!

It's been a busy and bruising haul out but I am now ready to splash back in on Monday. The busy part is rather obvious, as my time in the boat yard reminded me that every boater there was working furiously all day every day on their boats, and I was too. It's more expensive to be out than in the water, and not to mention less fun. You meet the most interesting people in a boat yard, especially in Port Townsend. I had nice conversations with the old curmudgeon who wanted you to know that he knew everything, and the oddly decorated philosophically wise lady who bought a boat without inspection only to find the engine dead, and a couple who had the odd habit of only having the wife speak to people until she had introduced the husband, where he would say the minimal amount and make sure you understood he didn't want to talk. And the yard guys and gals are a great mix. It's just a great cross section of Anglo Saxon humanity.

Bottom painted and boot stripe done. Ready for North! 

The bruising part was because of two particular projects I had to tackle this time. One was removing the engine to access the transmission. Doing this requires disconnecting all sorts of hoses, and wires, and bolts, and all of this means I am laying on my stomach, my side, my shoulders, and reaching down into the bilge area where the engine rests. Doing this for hours and hours means you get bruised and sore from literally hundreds of repetitions of laying in awkward positions and reaching and wrenching in hard spaces. Then do it all again when you put it back together.

It's disgraceful that Twin Disc uses cast iron on a marine transmission and doesn't paint it themselves, or at the very least, scream it to customers that you must paint it yourself before installing. 

It's a lot of work to get to this point, and don't screw up because money starts burning when you do!

I cleaned and painted the rusted cast iron parts on the Twin Disc, damn them. I hope to not have any more trouble with rust on the stupid thing. I took the opportunity to degrease my engine and clean various electrical connections.

My other reason for bruising was related to my replacing of the cockpit scuppers. The work in the cockpit is straightforward physically, but to attach the hoses you have to lay in the most remarkably awkward position imaginable. You are laying head down, upside down, and sideways, while reaching to your side. You keep your lower body hanging out, with a foot hooked on the wheel or braced somewhere, to leverage yourself. Repeat, repeat. When I got home last night I saw nice little bruises all along my thighs from doing this.

My other projects were not bruising and just laborious. I painted my boot stripe, which was looking shabby. I use Brightside down there and have been happy with the results.

Isn't that nice?

Besides bottom paint, I once again used lanocote prop treatment but this time applied it like the directions say of about a credit card thickness. I've had pretty good luck. But I must say, every other boat in the yard was using zinc spray from the hardware store. Cold galvanizing 93% zinc spray. I'd like to know how well that lasts, in particular, whether it lasts more than one year. If you know, tell me in the comments.