Having returned home from Edmonton, there is a ton of work to do. To start with, there is still more clearing out of stuff to be done. Although we’ve done a lot already the reality is we are moving into a space that is quite a bit smaller. To put it in perspective, Magnus is standing on the boat carpet that covers 95% of the interior floor space on the boat. That is actually the v-berth carpet and not a door mat next to the sliding door.
On a more exciting note, our new solar panels have arrived, each one weighing in under 4 lbs. These will soon be installed on the new bimini that we are having made to provide some sun protection in the cockpit. We opted for the Solbian panels as they don’t require any additional structure be added to the boat. With some luck, the combined 180W output should keep the fridge cold, our lights on and hopefully provide for a bit of computer time when we needed it too.
If anyone would like to take any of the liabilities off our hands in the picture below, feel free to drop us a line. The big one in the background is the only one currently spoken for. The Hobie Cat made it out of the garage for the first time in 2 years and is sporting a fresh coat of wax. The cars are also freshly waxed and ready to go.
As for Altera, the winter cover is off now. The brutal winter managed to bend 3 of the support poles for the winter cover, although I knew of two of them already from having checked on the boat mid winter. Fortunately we have a bit of extra time to worry about getting those beefed up. The big task in progress is stripping all the existing VC17 bottom paint to prepare for new barrier coat and then a bottom paint better suited for our intended use. Not a fun task and after about 12 hours of sanding the port side is done. Now that I have the process down, maybe I can get the starboard side in 11 hours….
