New Bern, NC

 Busy day at the boatyard!

 

The boat has gotten absolutely covered in dust....mainly blue'ish dust from our sanding of the bottom paint.  Since most of the sanding is complete, time to get things a bit tidier.  Unfortunately, the dust has been thru a couple of days of heavy dew and it's well-stuck to the gelcoat.

 

 

I used a combination of Barkeeper's Friend and bleach.  That does a nice job without much scrubbing.  (I'm sure that combo is toxic, but there is a nice breeze and I don't think I'm breathing it).

 

A few more coats of Trilux 33 for the saildrives.

And after I got the boat super-clean on one hull, I did the "lazy man's wax" -  Zep floor polish.  6 thin coats and the boat is about as shiny as she'll get - note the reflection of the power boat on Sojourn's hull.  The before view would show you a completely chalky/matte finish.  We've tried standard compound/wax with poor results on the 20 year old gelcoat.  This finish will stay nice for about 12 months.  If I'm in the mood, I'll reapply in the water when the time comes.....

 A bit of a setback - Duane noticed that our port side rudder has "movement" on it's shaft, indicating internal damage/defect.  Now we'll have to get the boatyard to lift us up higher so we can remove the rudder and investigate.  I'm sure that will be a week-long saga that I'll report!