a little maintenance

I was supposed to go sailing today, but when I went for my morning walk it was colder and cloudier than I had expected (good call on the weather Tom H).  So instead I decided to do some painting.  After three seasons of sailing and four cruises there was a lot of wear and tear on the interior of Spartina.  The cockpit sole and bunk flat (area forward of the thwart) were pretty well scratched up.  The bunk flat beneath the foredeck looked like it had been sanded already, the result of the bucket that holds the anchor sliding around.  The edges of the aft cockpit seats were worn through to the primer (mostly because I like to lean back against the coaming and prop my feet up on the edge of the opposite seat).  So it was time to do some maintenance.

When I cleaned out the cockpit it surprised me how much "stuff" was inside the boat.  Life jackets, foul weather gear, fender, anchor, boat hook, compass, bilge pump, spare line..... the list goes on and on.  And that doesn't even include the gear that is stowed away under the hatches.  As I looked over the equipment I decided it was all needed for safe, enjoyable sailing, nothing really that I would leave behind.  The good thing about the Pathfinder is that there is plenty of room to store the gear so it is not in the way.    Life jackets go up under the foredeck with the gas tank and anchor, oar and boat hook sit in the aft part of the cockpit, starboard and port, behind the coaming.  Foul weather gear is behind the coaming midships.  Throw cushions and dock lines bungeed up against the hull, behind the coaming, up forward.  Everything has a home where it is easily available and yet not in the way.  Add that to the list of great things about John Welsford's design.
So I spent most of the day sanding and painting.  I'm not the best painter around, I just don't have the patience (I remember Kiwi's on the JW builders site talking about ten coats of paint with wet sanding in between  - I would rather be sailing than painting).  But it looks a lot better than it did.  I like to tell people Spartina is a pretty nice looking ten foot boat (stand ten feet away and she looks pretty good).

Hoping for better weather next weekend to get out sailing here or maybe even sneak over to the Eastern Shore.

Note to self:  Do NOT mess around with any Navy SEALS.

-Steve