Paint and Tar and Elbow Grease

Good morning everyone. The weather here in Maine continues to hold for us. The blackflies have appeared inland at our home and drive us to the coast where the cool sea breeze makes life more tolerable. Temperatures inland threaten to reach the 70-degree mark. Yeeeesh! Let’s go sailing.

Our schedule is currently driven by our annual Coast Guard deck inspection on the 19th of the month. With most of the rigging finished we now turn our attention to passenger accommodations. We will brighten things up with new paint on the overheads and in the companionways. In the past these have been painted off-white. We are going to try a bright eggshell white this year. Some of the bright work needs renewing with a hand rubbed effect varnish. The whole combination feels bright and cozy all at the same time. Not that any of us spends much time in our cabins but we do think the little touches make a huge difference.

Our last crew member Molly has finally joined us. She is currently attending the Maine Maritime Academy where she specializes in small vessel operations. She was thrown straight to the masthead where she sat for the better part of a day hooking up all of the wires that support the foretopmast. From the photos you can see that she can eye splice with the best of them. You can also see that rigging a schooner sometimes takes a few schematics to accurately describe how the rigging should be lead. Every boat is rigged just a little bit differently and every year I change one or two things. There is nothing static about these boats.

Jen and Alex spent yesterday prepping and painting the green accent on the stern. There are some folks in this world that can’t paint a straight line working right side up on hard ground (I know... I am one them!). Imagine painting an ellipse on a bouncing paint float upside down. Once again my amazing wife proves that defying gravity is not all that difficult. At least she makes it look easy. Alex learned not to paint with his mouth open. Of course Dad does what he does best.. stay out of the way. As you can see it did not take much bait to lure him and Sawyer off the schooner. There is something about men in plaid.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Thanks to Professor Jim Dugan for grabbing our camera during his lunch break and taking these photos.