Above is a photo of SPARTINA at the dock on Scuffletown Creek just off the southern branch of the Elizabeth River. I launched her this morning for a few weeks of sailing on the Elizabeth. There should be a lot of early morning sailing when it is cool and some evening sailing (which is a hot time of day but the wind is excellent approaching sunset).
I've been working on maintenance the last couple weeks including:
* Touching up the brightwork with two-part Bristol Finish. This is a rough sand, epoxy (if needed), sand, and four coats of Bristol Varnish. SPARTINA has a "work boat" finish, and that is all I will ever hope for. I am the master of the work boat technique.
* Outboard tune-up by my friend Jim, an ex-submariner. You want precision work done, find a guy that helped maintain the submarine he lived on for months at a time under the ocean.
* New anchor line. As of now the anchor system includes 60 feet of 3/8" three-strand line, 10 feet of chain with a ten pound mushroom anchor as a sentinel at top and a five pound plow style anchor at the bottom.
* Patches to the boom tent by Angel at Little Bay Canvas. Angel and I designed the tent together and she made it nine years ago. It had worn through at two points, not bad after nine years. Angel put matching canvas on the outside and a rubber-like material on the inside.
* I sent my main sail up to Evolution Sails for a patch and survey. The results were not good. I was told the cloth is fragile and the resin is gone. I am waiting on an estimate for a new sail.
* The trailer is due for a new set of tires, need those for the 1000+ mile drive up to Maine.
There are a few more jobs to be done, those will be take care of in July. Now it is time to sail.
And there is SPARTINA tucked in at the dock near the Schooner Virginia, left, and the Battleship Wisconsin. Nice company to have.
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