too cold

The epoxy coated rub rails, bow sprit, boomkin and tiller have all been sanded.  I had hoped to put on the first of seven coats of varnish today but it is simply too cold.  The high might be 42 degrees, but with a howling wind and a north facing garage I don't think the temperature in my work area will be anywhere near that.

The WeatherMap+ app shows Tuesday afternoon might get to 50 degrees, maybe I'll get the first coat on then.  This coming weekend should be in the 50's and 60's, I'll hope for one coat on Saturday and then another Sunday afternoon (with the annual striper fishing trip squeezed in between).

Looking over the calendar I see that because of quirk in my work schedule I've got a four day weekend in early March.  In the eight or nine weeks between now and then I need to finish the varnish work, replace the deck hardware, buy new flares (which just expired), rewire the trailer lights and repack the trailer bearings.  That four day weekend might give the chance to wrap up the above jobs and maybe get Spartina out on the water for the first time this year.

I've got a lunch date tomorrow with my sailor/writer friend Paul.  Years ago he took a sailboat up the inside passage on the eastern shore, sailing and motoring behind the barrier islands.  Bruce and I will be sailing down the eastern shore this spring, possibly inside of the barrier islands or possibly outside depending on the weather.  I'll bring my barrier island chart to lunch with Paul and get him to tell me a little about his trip.  You can see from the satellite photo above that the water behind the barrier islands is, to say the least, interesting.  With winding creeks and running tides, I'll take all the advice I can get from Paul.

steve