A bad day on a boat is better than a good day in an office

There's a saying that "A bad day on a boat is better than a good day in an office." There have been a couple of hairy days on Minuet when I might have preferred to be in an office, but generally I find that statement to hold true. Even when the boat is in its cradle, and you have to climb a ladder to board her.








































Once we got up the ladder, we were rewarded with this view.














I was there to vacuum the interior, put cushions back into their places, and inspect the interior for problems. Almost everything was shipshape. I found two musty jackets that had been forgotten in the fall, but the upholstery smelled fine. Robert and I did find a leak in a quarterberth area that we use for storage. This spurred us to take out a cushion that didn't need to be there, and to move all the assorted tins, bottles, hardware, rags, and tools out of disintegrating cardboard boxes and into dishpans. We've located the source of the leak, a deck drain on the topside. Now we have to figure out how to fix it.

Robert was there to paint the bottom of the boat. We do this every three to four years. Bottom pain is intended to help your boat slide through the water more efficiently, and to discourage various critters from taking up residence on your hull. You mix powdered copper into a base, and it looks like this as you roll it on:

When the boat goes back into the water, that beautiful coppery glow will turn dark brown, just like the not-yet-freshly painted bottom.











We were one of the first people of the season who were working on our boat. I had taken Friday off, so it was a work day for most people. I expect that the boat yard was pretty busy over the weekend, with folks arriving to clean, paint, and wax. The weather was glorious, and would inspire anyone to start getting ready for the water.


In the meantime, the boat yard was quiet, filled with shrouded boats looking very much out of their element.










We did get to see something we have never seen before: a boat being put into the water. A man arrived with a boat and the crew put that boat on a motorized hoist, then took the boat to the water.
We didn't see the whole process, but we did see the hoist go by below us.














The hoist gently lowered the boat into the water, then motored back to the yard. I took a picture of it with our car before we left.









Minuet has a nice new coat of paint on her bottom. Next step on the outside: waxing. With any luck, we will get that done this coming weekend. The interior needs to have the water system put back into operation and some minor repairs. We also need to install the batteries. Once that is done, Minuet will be ready to go into the water.

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