21 December 2006
S/v Encanto

Headline:
Last night, we were incredibly pleased to have in this world, a KFC. Alas, the convenience of fast food when you have no water access and your boat sits in a sand box makes it mighty good to have some “finger lickn’g greasy food.”  As we walked the mile back from the El Paseo Mall, we were grateful that the look of rain had never come to fruition. Rain with a bare and unprotected steel hull worried the Captain…more rust was the last thing we needed.

We climbed up a ladder, 20’ in the air, thirteen rungs, then climbed over the rails, holding on to the rigging to “jump” over the plywood wall and aboard the sand sprinkled deck. No cats ventured to join us on deck as they had previously.  I was pleased to find that all the sand stayed outside the boat. Inside was clean of any fine sand.

20 December 2006 – Wednesday: Five days to Christmas. The El Paseo Mall is packed with holiday shoppers. Luckily, we are not among them.

0830: The four sanders return with more sand, ready to go at the boat with enthusiasm. A blast of black smoke spews from the compressor, the hopper is filled and the hose of sand wiggles in anticipation, poised and ready to blast away.  The pressure must be incredible for the man standing on the two-10” wood planks, on a 12’ scaffold, armed with the hose nozzle, ready for attack. I have renewed appreciation for the arm muscle strengthen of fire fighters and sand blasters.

0900: John speaks to George that he will need him to call Geovany, the welder, to return to our boat. Last night, John found more spots where the original welds have failed. There remains leaking from the second hull. Luckily, we can patch weld, better to find this now rather than later. Ultimately, John will need to punch some holes in the hull, drain the second hull, patch the seams and holes and then fill the hull with nitrogen. Add this to the future projects list.  Owning a steel hull is a bittersweet experience. We have the perennial woes of steel corrosion, but we also can just take a torch to it and weld any holes shut. No problems with wood rotting or fiberglas delaminating from the hull.  Maybe aluminum? nah, then you have copper corrosion. Surely, there is a new material science product that is perfect….

1030: From our distant window, it appears that the topsides are all bare metal. We are a gorgeous grey boat. She looks good. I asked the Captain if we might permanently paint the boat grey? We could call ourselves the USS Encanto (United States Ship Encanto), but he said, “no”, dark colored hulls, though attractive, retain too much heat.

1300: The job for the sandblaster is done. Immediately, eight men from George’s crew descended to hand sand the spots not hit by the blaster.

We had hoped the blaster could spot remove the rust on the deck of the boat, but after a few attempts, John called a halt to this effort. It appears that the deck surface had a thin protective layer, between the bare deck surface and the non-skid sand and paint surface . The force of the sandblasting on the deck was removing not only the rust, but was tearing up wide areas of the non-skid surface that was fine. Alas, this will mean that the John will need to return to hand grind the rust spots and protecting them, one by one. On deck we will have the pattern of a giraffe beneath our feet.

1430: George’s crew began to apply the first coat of primer protector paint. They worked quickly and efficiently. John and I sat in plastic chairs and watched the orchestration. A first for us, as usually, John is doing all of this work single-handed.

1500:  A cruiser from France decides he needs to wash his boat deck. The water spray from his washing carried by the afternoon breeze to the stern of our boat could be problematic. George asks him to cease as this could affect the adherence of the primer. He does not stop. John asks him to cease for a few minutes, just until we are pass painting the stern and port side of the boat. He does not.  Sometimes, it really hurts to find inconsiderate people who will not work with the flow of the conditions and situation. What’s an hour to him?

1600: Geovany and his assistant arrive to weld the cracks found by John last night. Again, with speed and efficiency, they are completed with the welding in a matter of a half hour. The paint crew works around the welders. They work compatibly.

1800: Day is done. The first coat of primer is a putty color and drying rapidly. Tomorrow, another coat will be applied.

As we rode back from the shower rooms, John noted how strange it looked to see no more rust stains. Encanto looked brand new.

Today, he saw in the morning his mistress naked in her bare hull. By the afternoon, she had her putty colored petticoat flaunting in the breeze.

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