Getting the jobs done!

Day 4 is done and we’re relaxing back at the condo for our last night. We’ll be splashed in the morning (Friday, November 3) and by this time tomorrow night, we’ll be relaxing on Crimson Kathryn. It’s definitely been a busy few days but all the pre-launch jobs went well.

On Wednesday our weather changed, following the cold front you were experiencing. The temperature wasn’t too bad but the north wind made working outside a bit chilly. Even with the cool wind, it was a successful day with lots of jobs being completed. Mark finished the thru hull installation. He still has plumbing and other things to do for this job but we can go in the water on Friday and not be flooded (always a good thing). Mark also got the new hull zinc installed, touched up the bottom paint in spots and started waxing the hull.

I spent the day cleaning and organizing the interior of the boat. We vacuum seal any item that might be damaged over the hot summer months in Florida. Things like fabric items (sheets, towels etc), electronics and even kitchen items (like the coffee pot and kettle) get sealed away for protection. I emptied all these bags and stowed everything away. I spent a fair bit of time making sure the aft cabin was all ready for us to sleep in on Friday. The only areas left to clean are the forward head and a few spots I can’t reach because of the sails.

Thursday was another cool, windy day – always fun when working outside. I had a pretty low key day. I did some laundry first thing in the morning. I also got our new dock lines from the car and put all the dock lines in place for tomorrow. Mark did one more paint touch up on the bottom and completed about 80% of the waxing. It’s hard work waxing the boat by hand so by 2pm, Mark was too tired to continue. Instead, we did other pre-launch jobs. Mark re-installed the switch for the bow thruster (which we will definitely need to get onto the pier tomorrow) and we moved our forestay back out of the way so the travel lift can pick us up. Most boats are lifted with the bow out but because we are a ketch, the mizzen mast gets in the way of a balanced lift. We get lifted stern out – the main mast gets very close to the travel lift frame to balance the boat in the slings.

In the morning (Friday), we’ll check out of our Airbnb and drive to the boat around 8am. We still have that little bit of waxing to do but that shouldn’t take too long. We probably have a bit of cleaning up to do as well. Our sun shade needs to be folded and wrapped in a tarp. We have some wood that needs to be stored somewhere. But for the most part, we’re ready to get back on the water!!!