We put it off as long as we could but finally couldn’t make any more excuses to haul Wondertime out of the water for some new bottom paint and a few other jobs. With only two more weeks until we depart, it was time to get it over with.
Haulouts are never fun: along with dropping $500 just to lift, store the boat on the hard for three days and relaunch, not to mention several more hundreds of dollars just for copper bottom paint it’s a painful time money-wise. Michael is officially unemployed now (yahoo!) so that means that he now gets to go to work with the nasty job of prepping and painting Wondertime’s bottom. And with hauling our two girls up and down the ladder in the toxic workyard not an option, we are pretty much rendered homeless (but as you’ll see in the photos below, we didn’t suffer too badly).
Michael worked non-stop for three days to sand, prep and paint the bottom, install the keel cooler for our new Vitrifrigo refrigeration system and replace the corroded head intake thru-hull. He worked right up until the travel lift came to splash us back in the water polishing the hull paint. Wondertime was looking mighty sparkly when she dipped her keel into the water again we think. Thankfully (except for the bottom paint not going as far as promised and having to rush to Fisheries in Seattle at 4 pm on Sunday to pick up another gallon) all went well during this haul. We are sure glad to get this major milestone checked off.
Wondertime is hauled out: all looks good so far.
Holly wonders what on earth her home is doing flying through the air.
Our boatyard cat is none too pleased about the view
Would you rather be in a cubicle or sanding the bottom of your boat?
Our waterline needed a little adjustment...up of course.
The girls and I spent the weekend at our good friends' beachfront house eating fresh oysters from their farm: a mighty fine way to spend the weekend hauled out.
When your home is out of the water what else is there for a boatkid to do but...play on the beach?
Our new Vitrifrigo keel cooler is installed
Done and ready for launch
Splash!
I’ve recently discovered your blog and have enjoyed reading about your preparations. My husband Terry and I will be leaving Anacortes aboard SV Harmony on July 29 to join the Baja Haha and then cruise in Mexico. Maybe our paths will cross! Esperamos que haya un viaje maravilloso!
Hi Diane~ We’ll look out for you and Terry for sure! Best of luck in your preparations as well!
Looks exciting! Hey, I was curious – did the State ban copper bottom paint yet? I remember reading that it was coming…we’re looking to paint our bottom soon too…thanks!
-Paul
Everyone’s Travel Club
Hi Paul~ They did ban it but it doesn’t go into effect until 2020 basically (see http://threesheetsnw.com/blog/archives/16508). Phew. Although they are coming up with some great copper-free environment-friendly paints I hear.
How many gallons did you ultimately use, for how many coats on your 36-footer? And did you brush or roll? This info will help me to know how much paint to buy before we cross the border and head south, Gracias! Michael
Hi Michael~ We used three gallons but that only gave us about 1.75 coats. We really needed 3.5 gallons for a full three coats (but our source was all out!) However, this is unusual as nearly every other boat we’ve painted (from 33 to 42 feet) has used about a gallon a coat. We hadn’t used this paint before and likely won’t again as it was very thick and just didn’t go very far (Seahawk Tropikote – http://www.seahawkpaints.com/Our-Products/Product/Tropikote.aspx). But we’ll see how good it is at keeping the warm water growth off! P.S. “We” rolled it on with a 3/8″ nap as recommended by the manufacturer.