April is a transistion month for sailors. The snow has gone but it is still too cold for being on the lake. Prefect conditions for boat prep. My boat is 'dry sailed', so I don't have to apply anti fouling and with a 'maxi dinghy' I don't have to worry about engines and plumbing. This year I got to help out in prepping a friend's 36 footer; a much more typical yacht prep experience!
The first thing we did was take down the tarp and associated supports. The hull was in good shape. The surface was power washed last fall, at haul out, so there was no dried on gunk. We did a light sanding (see photo). VC 17 was used for the anti fouling. A packet of copper powder is mixed with the liquid. The powder is very fine. Care has to be taken to keep it from blowing away. The resulting mixture is applied to the lower part of the hull. The stuff will evaporate quickly. You don't want to take too much at a time as it will quickly harden. The whole process is messy and boring. It was nice to have a crew to work with and provide some tims!
We checked out the thru hulls. The engine had to have a good look over to see that all the hoses were secure. If the engine still isn't working by launch at least you will have time to arrange for a tow to your slip. Running the engine dumps the engine anti freeze on land; otherwise it would be dumped in the water.
On my own boat I had comparatively little to do. The club wanted the trailer clearly marked with name and club member number. I once again tried to fix the windex. The old base was removed and I have installed a new one. (Interestingly the new windex base is not the same. Fortunately I had salvaged parts that I could use to fit my existing hole.) I also got the boom reassembled. Another project is to see if I can fit the compass holder thru the mast's rope guide slot. This concept requires further thought. The fixed attachments on the mast prevent me from adopting my original concept. I also got new spark plugs for the 4 hp auxilery. Nothing really needed to be done prior to launch day except for the windex.
The final thing will be to arrange for some help to get the mast stepped. I hope to do this on Sunday when the wet boats will have been launched.
