Orca needed just a little bit of work before going back into the water. Normally, I try to do as much boat work myself as possible. However, my tools are on a container ship somewhere between Houston and Rotterdam. I didn’t want to wait two weeks to get into the water so I introduced myself to the yard manager Monday morning and explained that I needed a seacock and an anode replaced. I was a bit taken aback when he responded “OK, maybe this week”. I commented that it did not seem like it should be much work and I would like to sail this summer. He asked when I wanted to launch the boat and I told him as soon as the work is accomplished. The conversation ended there.
Marina Stavoren is on the Johan Friso-kanaal just outside of the town of Stavoren. There are thousands of boats in the area, many of them of classic Dutch design. While in the yard, our stern faced the canal and we had a good view of canal trafic sometimes ghosting along in the morning fog.
A typical Dutch sailing barge
Wednesday morning, Mary and I returned from our daily walk into town and found a workman finishing the anode replacement on our propeller. We went on board and found the sea-cock had also been replaced. A few minutes later, a workman climb our stern ladder and asked “Are you ready to launch?” Surprised, I asked “Right now?” He said “Yes, now.”
We had been discussing what to do about the bottom of Orca. She has had the gellcoat peeled but not epoxied. She has bottom paint over bare fiberglass. Our decision was to just paint her with anti-fouling around the waterline then haul in the fall for more extensive work. I talked to the yard manager and negotiated a launch at 3 o’clock the next afternoon.
We went back into town bought paint, rollers and masking tape. It was raining so we could not paint immediately. When the rain stopped in the evening we applied the asking tape so we could get an early start the next morning.
It was 9:30 Thursday morning when things dried out enough to consider painting. We were used to painting with brushes but now rollers seem to be in style. We applied bottom paint around the waterline and on the rudder. It was much easier than we expected and much more of the paint wound up on the boat rather than on us than during previous haul outs. The job was done by 10:30.
Watching paint dry
At 3 o’clock sharp, equipment was rolled out and Orca was launched. We were in the water. I burped the seal on the stern gland as instructed by the previous owner and went into the office to pay the bill. The bill was a shocker – but in a good way. It was about a third of what I expected (based on experience in the Caribbean 30 years ago).
Friday was spent shopping in the nearby town of Sneek and stowing extra gear. Saturday we put the sails on. Today, perhaps we will take her out and see how she sails – assuming we remember how thats done.
All dressed up and ready to go