A new coat of paint does wonders...

Since Briskwater had not been out of the water for cleaning and painting since 2012, she was in great need of a haulout. We took her to Skyline Marine Center on Wednesday 7/9/14 to be taken out of the water and taken to a dry dock for us to work on her. The folks at Skyline were efficient and very helpful, both on the hauling out and the purchase of cleaning/painting materials.

It was cool to see Briskwater lifted out of the water by the travelift, which looks like a giant upside down letter U on wheels. They pressure washed her keel and sides, and then wheeled her over to the DIY yard. At first, we feared we would have to sand the boat, but the previous owners had done a great job in painting her the last time (in 2012). On her keel, she just needed a new coat of antifouling paint.

Before we could paint, we had to let her dry for a day. We used the interim to begin the waxing process, which was applied to the fiberglass hull. It turns out that was the longer process of the two (painting vs. waxing). After washing the whole boat, it took a good day's work to clean the hull using a restoring/cleaning compound, applied using the same process of waxing: apply compound to a small surface area of the hull, rub the compound into the hull using an orbital buffer, then wipe excess material using terry or microfiber cloth. Sounds easy, but I must have gone through a couple gallons of elbow grease. Briskwater's hull looked whiter and softer after the initial restorative compound.

The next day, we painted the bottom of the boat using some anti-fouling paint. Gary helped a lot with the touch-up painting and the correct method for rolling it on. In the meantime, Sarah polished all the metal on the deck. The paint gave Briskwater a nice deep shade of blue down below.

For our final full day in the yard, I waxed the hull using a marine grade (read: expensive) wax. We had borrowed a large orbital buffer for the job, and that helped a great deal. Briskwater became quite shiny/reflective with the new wax coat. Sarah varnished our door, and it is more protected as a result.

We hauled Briskwater back into the water on Sat. 7/12/14. On our way to Lopez, the new waxing really seemed to make a difference.

Captain's note: Working on the boat was very peaceful, and probably the happiest physical labor I've performed. It reminded me of mission trips I'd taken to Arizona and Mexico, where we'd be painting the side of a house in the sun, being a bit sun burned at times, but very much at peace. I feel closer to Briskwater as a result. Selling her down the road, saying goodbye, will now be that much harder.