Progress

It has been quite a while since we've blogged, so here's the scoop: After sanding out the rain damage and getting a finish coat of paint on the hull, this is what Troubadour looked like:

Next we got busy painting the Flag Blue boot stripe and priming the areas below the waterline where the bottom paint had worn through. We thought some more primer in spots wouldn't hurt, especially after grinding the rusty bottom of the keel, which was neglected until our "night in the slings" 12 hours before splash the last time we were in the yard in 2008. Hopefully by waiting the recommended amount of  time between coats (18 hours for the bottom paint!) the primer and paint will do a little better this time. We'll see!

While we were adding bottom paint, the solar panels arrived and were mounted on top of the new arch.

And after waiting for quite a while for a quiet day to apply the graphics, we finally got a quiet morning to both apply the cool new guitar graphic and reapply the name so Troubadour was no longer anonymous. The struggle to disconnect and pull the shaft (in order to replace the cutless bearing) was ultimately successful (yea!), so after the new bearing went in and the shaft was reinserted, the new rudder could be uncrated, hung and painted. Linda finished sewing the new enclosure top about the same time, and it was laced onto the frame.

We are in the process of reconnecting everything that was disconnected, restowing things that haven't been stowed for months, trying to find new homes for things that have been displaced during remodeling, and yes, disposing of things for which we haven't found a home, or have yet to find useful.

After completing the new settee cushions and enclosure top, we (Linda) still have front (dodger) and side enclosure panels to sew, two sets: one of Regalite vinyl windows and another of Phifertex mesh screens. We (Chris) keep tackling the project list while Linda sews. We (both) feel a big sense of relief having come this far and expect to be back in the water by the end of the month, if not sooner. Looking forward to floating again soon!