Dan and Lily came home this weekend to celebrate my birthday, and to give me the greatest present: help with the boat! Finally, finally, finally, we had a spring-like day on Saturday: sunny and about 60 degrees. Patti packed us a lunch, and the four of us went to the boat at about 1pm.

The marina had assured me that the water would be on in the yard, but for some reason, it wasn't working in our area. Nevertheless, Lily figured out that we could fill a bucket with soapy (then clean) water and give the boat a good washing. So the three crew members did just that, while I used the Petit Flex Epoxy I bought at the Defender spring sale to fix the compression post. Pics later when I go back to see how it set. But this stuff is great: it mixes easily, doesn't heat up as it cures, and is the thickness of peanut butter without having to add any fillers. I also added epoxy under the pennant line grommet in the cockpit, so now I can hopefully screw the thing down.

I was also able to use my new angle grinder to finally cut off the u-bolt at the bow. My dremel moto-tool broke trying to undertake that job. This new tool is a beast. It was no problem for it. However, I carelessly damaged the bow while doing so. Fortunately, I had the epoxy right there to repair the damage.

We also brought along all three buffers, and we worked two of them at once. We were going to use all three, but the "oldest" one was gross; the plastic on the handles was just all sticky and deteriorating. Gross. We tossed it rather than bring it back home. So Dan, Lily and Patti (and me) all took turns using the other two buffers, and using the microfiber cloths to buff off the wax. It took about half the time it normally takes me to wax the boat.

Still to do: paint the bottom, finish the teak (I bought a new Petit product to try), install the coaming boxes, install the engine.

Feeling good!