END OF APRIL - 30 APRIL, 2023

 well... we made it !  next up is Rhody fest madness, and my getting serious about hull polishing, centuries ago we used to wash and wax our automobiles ! yes, that is true, all of that went away with modern paint, then plastic over coating, in the marine world, similar things have only happened in the very few past years.                                              

The older wood vessels always had the constant maintenance of sanding, scraping, caulking, varnish, oiling, painting, and refitting deck/cabin/hull stuff that corroded, rusted, or fell off... Steel came along with its paint chippers, sand blasting, welding, xray welds, and RUST, we tried the aluminum idea for awhile, and learned all about anode, cathodes, grounding, phantom currents, dissimilar metals, electrolysis and sooo much more.

The ferro-cement idea.... no comment needed, which brings us to grp fiberglass, the core filled idea, the toxicity, the many formulas, blisters, cracks, brittle ageing, and top coatings, like gel-coat that oxidize, cloud, powder, scratch, and, did I mention oxidize?

Being out in the sun, wind, rain, sleet, hail, snow and pollution at high and low temperatures is a rough life... ask my face... the dull look is only noticed by the boat owner, but it is bothersome, like peeling paint on a house, or weeds in the garden.

Hauled out and blocked the job requires a scafolled work platform, in the water, a stable float of some sort.

The clean-strip-wax work is easy, arm intensive and sunburn prone, it is the get-it-all-together time and effort, the slow job progress, and the arthritis (or beer bill) that makes this such an easy to put off task.

I last did Sofea in 2015, ---2020 was my return calendar date, I was 7 years younger back then... we will see how 2023 and 80 years old goes in my skiff, (less the beer and arm strength),