Wednesday, 12 March. Deb went in shopping on the free shuttle today while I stayed at the boat, waiting for the soda blaster guys and trying to figure out why the saildrive diaphragm they sent had the WRONG part number. Of course, internet is still down along with all land lines (from the fire - the microwave tower was on the roof that burned) As a result, cellular networks are overloaded and acting weird. Every time I tried to call Arturo @ Marine Warehouse, it went immediately to voice mail (which he never answered). Finally I realized that I could still send email via SSB - MAYBE. SSB requires a 'ground plane' to balance the antenna. In a boat, metal plates under water make the entire ocean the ground plane. Not so much when on the hard. Well, long story short - it worked, the parts are the correct ones, Yanmar just changed the number which it apparently does with some frequency. Oh well, at least we are good to go on that department. About mid-afternoon, the soda blasters - correction "Hydro-Blasters" arrived. It is quite an operation. A giant diesel compressor puts out ~2000 psi via a 2" hose. The abrasive they used was 80 grit garnet, not baking soda, but they assured me it would still not harm the gelcoat, just remove the paint. (All of this is Spanish. The supervisor speaks less English than I do Spanish and the workers, none.) Anyway it went into this big centrifuge looking thing with lots of water. Somehow the air mixed with the slurry and came out the nozzle. Man, did it WORK! They started on the keel and in no time had a shiny white spot with a black rim and then the red bottom paint. We examined it and agreed, the red bottom paint was the top, the black (non-ablative bottom paint) was also to be removed, and the white was gelcoat which would be preserved. By the time they knocked off at 5:30, they had 80% of one hull done. They left about a 5" strip by the waterline. Tomorrow they will use tape and plastic to protect the hull above the waterline (an keep the waterline defined) and blast that section as well. The supervisor thought they could finish tomorrow. WOW! I had originally been told 9 days, which seemed excessive, but how would I know. Just before arriving at the marina, I was told 'probably 5 days'. Now it is down to 1½! And considering how much they did in less than 3 hours, I believe them. It looks good too. Gelcoat seems intact with about an 80 grit sand job - exactly what the Coppercoat calls for. I may have to glaze a couple spots and maybe hand sand a spot or two, but it is really looking good. I am very impressed.