Our storage work began in earnest just after our arrival on the Reynolds pier. The job list is definitely shorter then the launch list but there are still many things that have to be cleaned and stowed. A salty storage environment inside the boat leads to some nasty surprises when we return in November.
Probably the biggest job is rinsing the boat – outside and inside. The goal is to remove as much salt as possible to slow down the mold growth. This year I am treating all interior surfaces with a water and vinegar rinse and then a spray of Concrobium (a mold and mildrew killer). You might remember the photos from November – so much mold!! We don’t want a repeat of that!
Mark’s first big job was putting holes in the boat!! Our boat has drains on the deck with about a 4” wall beside the drains. These drains clog easily which is not a problem when we’re onboard but terrible when we aren’t here. So to help with deck drainage, Mark drilled 2 large holes in the side above the drains to help disperse water. Mark barely finished sealing around each tube when we got a really heavy rainstorm. The new side drains worked perfectly and we had excellent drainage for a change.
Unfortunately not all boat jobs go as planned! On Friday (Good Friday) I was cleaning our cockpit and it’s enclosure. I took off the dodger (it’s like the windshield in a car) to get better airflow into the cockpit to dry it out. I put the dodger on the top of the enclosure (which I’ve done many times before) and went inside the boat to work on cleaning the v-berth. There was a big gust of wind and that gust took our dodger over the edge and into the dirty water of the St. John’s River. It was about 2 hours later when I noticed the dodger was gone. Mark dove for it but visibility in this water is zero! So now we have to get a new dodger made for our enclosure!! Not what we wanted but that’s the way things go. There’s a woman right on-site here who does canvas work so we’ve already booked her for November.
We have now booked a haulout date – Monday, April 25th. There are lots of jobs to be completed by that date but we’re confident we’ll have them all done in time. We both have our lists and each day we’re ticking things off!! It’s not all hard work – Jane and Steve are still here and we’ve had happy hour with them. And yesterday (Monday), our friends Julia and Brad arrived so now we have more people to chat with!
Crimson Kathryn and her crew 