Spring is here and so are the tasks I deferred for one reason or another. Annie's trailer has taken a rust beating in the continuous saltwater dipping over the past seven years. So I got the folks at Morningstar to lift her off with straps hanging from the forks of their lift. It worked well, having made sure to position the straps under bulkheads.
The bolts had been sprayed with WD40 on my last visit. I began cranking off them where possible with a long braker bar. Some needed grinding and all sorts of coaxing. Most were 1/2" bolts that took a lot out of the ole boy. The safety cables were shot so they got replaced too and in the end, after a lot of wire brushing and a coating of lithium grease, I felt pretty good about the condition.
Annie looked exceptionally good after a long winter. There is nothing quite like a well fitting cover. The rails got a touch up of Cetol and I decided it was a good time to paint the bottom. The hardware in Mathews had a quart of generic, red, ablative bottom paint that went on easy.
It reminded me of 30 years ago when I cleaned and painted yacht bottoms when I was living aboard Quelle. I did remember to wear gloves and cover up. Probably have ample copper coursing through my veins.
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| 1981 |
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| 2013 (different boat, different cap) |
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| Sunset through the Milhaven bridge |
Stayed aboard and awoke early, had a great shower and arrived at Linda's Diner when they opened at 6:30. The regulars had the bar almost full and were giving the young morning cook a well meaning 'hard time'. Big cholesterol-laced breakfast with black coffee.
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| Sunrise, pre-coffee |
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| Getting a little local talk at Linda's |
I finished up and Annie was resettled on her trailer about 10:30. A quick motor flush - second pull!- and off to Deltaville to check on the museum. The deadrise 1/2 scale model was close to finish and is looks great. Capt. Crunch and his team have really been working.
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| Crunch's lunch break |
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| Curved horn timber |
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| Inside the round stern |
Looking forward to returning soon for a day in the water... aboard Annie with her smooth belly gliding through the waters of the Chesapeake Bay.
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