So came back to the Severn River from New York for the holiday and to prep me and the big boat for Northbound transit to Shelter Island.
Spent 4 days rowing back and forth to the boath doing maintenance and outfiit. Always easier to touch up toe and rubrail varnish from the dinghy. Also had to resew the mizzen sailcatcher, yeah that tread is only good for 10 years!
Spent 1 day under the powerboat (not counted) with a scraper and mask. It's a really bad barnacle year on the Severn, and I spent several hours on the hull and outdrive. I just hope the adage that bad barnacle goes with good (no) nettles proves true. A test run was acceptable, thank goodness.
Several days later the kids wanted a powerboat ride. Loved to. Still some drag, but over the course of several hours the performance continued to improve, and the kids and their mom had a great time.
Of course the sailboat was not immune from the barnacle bash, but my friend Patrick volunteered to dive and clean the bottom, which he did on the 14th. That afternoon we did a shakedown sail. Was supposed to be 6-8, but a squall parked over Parole and we had 12-15 knots on Round Bay. We approached 8 knots under reefed main and headsail (we had one of the 5 year olds with us) and pulled in before it really blew up! Of course, the zipper on the mainsail cover ripped out, so that came off to get fixed before we leave.
Finally went out on the 17th and brought the boat in from the mooring. Reinstalled the repaired sailcatcher, and topped up fuel and water. Stowed random gear and checked the fuel tank for water. Ready to go!
Last task was to pull out the powerboat and store her in the driveway while we are gone. Couldn't resist a couple of high speed passes across Round Bay, trying to knock just a few more barnacles off. Didn't work. Spent a couple more hours with the scraper and power washer!
4 days rowing
2 days underway on Grumpa's Boat (powerboat)
2 days underway on Firefly (the sailboat)
