It was another long day at the boat yard. I was having troubles getting Micron 66 locally and I had begun the unpleasant process of trying to identify a paint I would be happy with that didn't require a complete strip of the existing antifouling. The bottom had been painted only 10 or 11 months ago and it was in pretty good shape, I was loath to scrape it all off at $300 a can!

Just as I was digging through my Practical Sailors in earnest Valeria, the office manager came through with the 66 but in black. The paint on there was blue but hey, I'll take pink if it means a light sand and paint away. Better yet they could have it tomorrow! I guess Raiatea has a pretty good connection with Papeete.

In the mean time I prepped and painted the drive legs with Trilux. I used the spray can last time around but Dominic only had gallon cans of brush on. He let me borrow a little from an open can they had. The drive legs were black but of course the paint the yard had was white. The designer genes in me suggest that a blue hull with black drive legs make for the best fashion statement, but since I'm not looking to make a fashion statement and probably don't have any designer genes anyway a black hull with white drives will have to do.

I managed to get the zincs installed, the props prepped, lubed and installed, all with healthy doses of loctite.

Fred had the rudder shaft glassed back into the right side of the shell by the end of the day. The rudder project is a hurry up and wait affair. The shaft took a day to go to town, get in the press and come back. Then once the rudder shells are clean it has to be glassed in, which requires a four plus hour pause at the end for curing. Next the halves need to be glassed together, followed by curing. Then the beast needs to be faired and filled with foam. Then the foam holes are sealed and the rudder is primed, pause. Antifouling coat one, pause. Coat two pause. You get the idea. All of this with the majority being in epoxy for water protection and secondary bond strength.

I was trying to drive a Monday splash but it was looking tough. Still no bottom paint and no work on the new stickers, both big projects.

Back at the Raiatea Lodge Hideko and I enjoyed a sunset game of Patonk and another wonderful meal cooked up by Oliver. Eric and Oliver both try to teach me French at every turn. I am trying and making some progress but their English is too good to force the issue.