4th March

10 24.394 N
75 32.692 W

Weather; sunny, wind n/a, waves n/a

I almost forgot to mention that yesterday saw us break with our usual start to the day - Gerry didn't go up the mast and what's more he didn't go up there this morning either!
As soon as the morning emails were answered and he had showered and dressed in one of his not so grotty tee shirts (they are all beginning to look like they belong in the rag bag and not on the body these days) he announced that he was going to the chandlery to see if he could get some gasket goo for the transmission bearing cap. I was left to do the housekeeping stuff and had just about done by the time he returned. I thought that today I would make a start on a job that I have been eyeing off but was hoping that it would get done by the boat fairies one night whilst we were sleeping - I had noticed that the stanchions were looking decidedly in need of a clean and polish as they were salt encrusted and had spots of rust appearing (on stainless steel no less). I'm usually the one that does this job as I have more patience than Gerry has in getting the grim and grot off of them but it isn't a job I relish as it means I have to get into awkward positions all along the deck to reach each of the stanchions another sort of boat yoga. Normally I use bar keepers friend to do this job but Lorie told me some time ago that she uses FSR (fiberglass stain remover) and it works well. As we have a tub of the stuff I thought I'd give it a try so armed with a few cleaning cloths and the tub of FSR I began with the safety rail by the cockpit which wasn't too bad and it came up clean and shiny in no time, as I progressed along the deck though it got worse and tougher to clean with just a cloth then I remembered that Lorie had said she painted it on with a brush. A quick duck down below to locate a brush and then back into it - brush it on, wait a bit, clean it off with a cloth that was soaked in the stuff from before then a dry polishing cloth and it was mostly good. As things got more stained the further along the deck I went I ended up getting a wad of steel wool to apply some elbow grease to the harder to remove spots, this worked well. As I went I noticed that many of the deck fittings were also in need of a bit of TLC so I began cleaning those as I went as well, slowing my progress down considerably. Gerry who was hiding down below doing who knows what yelled up that it was almost lunch time and was I coming down - stupid question, any excuse to stop really! So we had lunch and he told me that he had tightened up the steering cables, greased the wheel bearing, put sealer around the gearbox bearing cap and finally chaff guard around a gearbox oil line. So we spent the next hour sitting in the cool of the salon before I convinced myself that I needed to get back outside and continue with my cleaning of the stanchions and everything else along the starboard side of the boat. I went back out at 1.30pm and continued along the deck until I reached the bow sprit, I just couldn't reach the final bit without standing on anchor chain and as I wasn't wearing shoes (no I haven't learnt that lesson after cutting my foot in case you are wondering) I thought I would leave that for some other moment of madness. I did the only stanchion on the port side that I could reach without removing the awnings and then called it a day, especially as I had just donated the steel wool I was using to Davey Jones locker. I put everything into the cockpit for easy retrieval when I do the other side and gladly made my way down below, it was now 4.30 - I hadn't planned on being outside for so long. Once out of the heat I realized how hot and tired I was, along with that the tips of my fingers were sore as all hell and tingling to the point of being painful, an extended washing of my hands didn't stop the tingling or the tired feeling and a cold drink only partly revived me, I needed to lay down in the cool for an hour to ease the aches and pains. When I got up, just before cocktail hour I took stock of my stupidity - I had broken the cardinal rules of working on a boat - I had stayed outside for far too long and stayed out in the heat of the day (mad dogs and Englishmen stuff), hadn't worn an appropriate long sleeved, collared shirt, didn't wear a hat, didn't even consider putting on gloves, hadn't applied any sun screen and had kept going just to get to the end despite the fact that there is tomorrow! I deserved every ache and pain I was suffering from but the starboard side of the boat looks amazing, the only problem with that is there is still the entire port side to do! Gerry, who had done nothing all afternoon, cooked dinner, then we watched a couple of episodes of a series we like before I finally decided that an early night was called for and headed off to bed, leaving Gerry to flounder by himself for a while, I needed that comfortable feeling of being in bed and ready to sleep - I think I over did things a little today.