What Have We Done?

Did I say we felt optimistic yesterday? Huh, because today was pretty depressing. We started the day at 4am because we found ourselves awake and unable to go back to sleep. The early morning was pleasant with drinking coffee and reading in bed, but then reality set in. We had some folks come by and look a couple of the projects which need to be done before we can go in the water. The ‘head’ (bathroom) was completely removed last year to do some work on the hull underneath, and is now just a bare little room that needs to be completely rebuilt. Also the dodger has been partly cut away and windows removed (to repair more rusty metal), and what is left of it has even more rust in places. The first man who came by to look at both projects (from the shop right underneath us) told us that he was actually unwilling to do the head remodel because they only do “top of the line work” and need to think about their reputation. Thanks a lot! And then suggested that the best thing to do would be to cut down the existing dodger and completely start from scratch. He was willing to work on an estimate for that job but would not be able to start until mid May. And we want to launch the first of June. Our experience is that if anyone gives you an idea on a start day or length of job it is always sooooo much longer. And not to mention the cost of having the dodger rebuilt. We feel we are stuck between a rock and a hard place. It has to be done...and soon or we don’t get to start the fun part. At this point it all feels really overwhelming and is hard to imagine the boat being in a position to go in the water. As Mike was dealing with logistics and doing small projects, I was sanding various bits and pieces to get them ready for varnish. At least we have a hand sander now but I had to stop after 4 or 5 hours because I was actually getting cramps in my wrist. I didn’t know that could happen. I gotta get my chops up if I am going to be doing this for the next 2 months. In the early evening we hunkered down in the cabin because of gray skies and high winds. After a meal of leftovers and very limited conversation we went to bed early with hopes of a better tomorrow.



The windowless and rusted dodger