Boat Week kicked off yesterday as I cleaned the decks (somewhat pointlessly, in view of the fact they are going into a grimy, messy boatyard in two days) and Mandy cleaned and de-stained most of the hull. I also checked over the engine, which looks a little rough but fired right up and ran well, and we motored over to the fuel dock to pump out our holding tank and fuel up. As usual, I was surprised by how little fuel we had used since the last fill up--about ten gallons. I was even more surprised at the price; almost sixty bucks. We've been watching gas prices on land drop these past few weeks, but apparently the marina kept a Memorial Day premium price or something. Marine diesel should be cheaper yet as you don't pay the "road tax" on it, but next time it looks like it's going to be cheaper to take our fuel jugs up to Safeway and lug them back.
Apart from that, the who evolution went well, and we are all ready to head north to Port Townsend Tuesday afternoon for our haul-out. The weather is just about the worst possible combination; Tuesday should have southerlies, but they are supposed to be "light" which for all practical purposes means no sailing, since you quickly outsail the wind when going the same direction in that situation. Wednesday and Thursday, days when we hope to be painting, promise to kick it up a notch, with southerlies to twenty-five knots... great for sailing, terrible for painting. Particularly because the yard in Port Townsend is moderately well protected to the north, but wide open to the south... those winds will whip across the bay and tear right into us. I have some tarps I can rig as a sort of wind/rain screen (oh, did I forget to mention it's supposed to pour rain as well? yeah) but I don't know if that will be sufficient.
Actually, as I check it this morning, the forecast has moderated somewhat, leaving Thursday not quite so terrible, but the fact remains that it's not going to suddenly break out in sunshine and chirping birds... one way or another it's going to be pretty grim outside.
We've got some barnacle scraping to do. We've never had that problem before, being primarily in fresh water in the past, so it will be interesting to see how easily, or not, they come off the bottom of this thing. Our paint sands off quite easily but I don't know how deeply they dig in.
I also am beginning to think that we have another leak toward the stern, in addition to the rudder post (which I already knew needed to be re-packed); I'm thinking we have some holes in the muffler. It's impossible to say for sure, because the muffler is wedged in beneath the fuel tank and I can only see one end of it. There is certainly water dripping out from beneath it at a fair flow while the engine is on (perhaps a drip a second) but you can't tell if it's coming from the muffler itself or somewhere further aft. If we have time, I'll want to yank it out and see if it can be patched up or welded. It doesn't absolutely have to be done while we're out of the water, though; it's below the waterline but there is no water in it unless the engine is running.
Ditto with cleaning and painting the engine. I would like to do it while I have extra hands around, most of who are more patient and methodical than myself, but it could happen another time if need be.
The keel is going to be the great unknown. I can't see a thing from above the water so I have no idea how dinged up it may be. The cool temperatures are not going to help with any work that needs to be done on it; epoxy and paint both dry slower when it's cold, and it's going to be pretty cold. My hope is that, one, it's repairable, and two, it's repairable inside our time frame... if we miss our splash time scheduled with the lift, we could get stuck. The yard is busy this time of year. Last time we were there, we were next to a guy who had missed his splash date and wound up having to sit there, paying yard fees, for an extra two weeks before they could schedule him back into the water. Of course, if the repair is that complicated, yard fees will probably be the least expensive part of it.
Anyway, rain and all I am excited to get out for the trip up and back. It's been rough, even with the terrible weather, just sitting here watching all the other Memorial Day boat traffic going in and out. We'll still have the terrible weather, but should have the Sound pretty much to ourselves for the trip.
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