[originally posted on Jan 2, at www.svoctopussy.com]

Well, I thought (after nursing a slight New Year's Day hangover) that I would detail our punch list of things we need to do over the next 11 weeks. Our splash date is 22 March. This is set in stone by the boatyard, as we are all crammed in like sardines in a tin, and the other boats further "inboard"-so to speak- have to get in the water as well.

Getting the old headliner/adhesive/mold off of the interior of the hull was a huge waypoint for us in terms of what we need to do over the next few months. We thought it was going to take us much longer, but now (thankfully) that it is done, we can set our sights on other things.

It's hard with a boat like this, because there is a lot that needs to get done. But the discussion we had on Monday night was all about, "what do we NEED to get done before March 22 with the boat out of the water."

Needless to say, that was enough to get us to make our next punch list (in no particular order):

1. Touch up the bottom paint on the hull. Dos Equis had a decent ablative paint job, but through the last three years, there have been a lot of scratches to it, which brought it down to the fiberglass. So, we are going to touch it up for now, instead of going all out to blast and then repaint right now. Bigger fish to fry!

2. Replace the prop zincs. We have Autostream props (which we have received many compliments about, BTW) and they have cone-shaped zincs at the ends. I found MARTEC in California, which is the American distributor for Autostream, so I will need to order new zincs from them.

3. Replace bearing and zincs on the Spurs anti-fouling cutters on the prop. The previous owner lived in New England. Even during our sea trial in November, we were dodging lobster pots and lines. So installing these little gems was smart thinking.

4. Install zincs on the braces for the propeller shafts. They are metal, and there currently are no zincs on them. The surveyor mentioned that we should put zincs on those as well.

5. Two seacocks replaced. We were going back over the survey, and there were a few other things that really need to get done. One is replacing two seacock valves on the engine cooling intakes. They are apparently gate valves, and need to be replaced with ball valves.

6. Pour some epoxy in the starboard rudder. Apparently, the surveyor was concerned that it was delaminating. He said we needed to drill some holes, make sure its dry inside, and then pour epoxy in the rudder to stiffen it.

7. Remove the barnacle pads left on the hull. The hull is actually pretty clean, but there are a few locations that have barnacles or barnacle pads left on the hull.

8. Officially rename her! We need to get the Dos Equis graphics off the hulls, and properly put on our new name!

There is still a ton of other stuff that needs to get done, but this is the list that HAS to get done before she goes in the water. 76 days and counting!