It’s been nonstop work on Escape Velocity. In addition to the much needed antifouling we prepared the hulls for new waterline striping to give the old girl an updated look.
Jack tackled a long list of projects like replacing the autopilot tiller pin, servicing the winches and installing a new cleat on the stern.
Inbetween we inventoried the lockers to offload excess weight and redistribute what’s left. It’s amazing what we’ve been carrying around for no reason. And now that we have paddleboards, kayaks and bikes (yes, bikes!) we really needed to make room for all the toys.
The bikes came to us with no effort on our part, like a magical karmic gift. The first bike was given to us by Nell and Phil of Moondancer as they went through their own decluttering and we were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Jack fixed it up and happily did errands far and wide with his newfound range. A few weeks later we sold some unused equipment off EV and the very next day we saw a notice on the bulletin board at the supermarket for a folding bike for sale asking the same amount of money we’d just received for the excess gear. Win-win, we said and suddenly we are the owners of two folding bikes. We wouldn’t survive the haulout without them since the yard is too far from town to walk and we can easily go shopping for parts and supplies and provisions.
Back on board we had a rigger check our entire rig from top to bottom and he pronounced us perfect in every way. Good to know.
Our Yorkshireman diesel mechanic came back with our direct-from-Brussels bearing housings and gave both engines a new lease on life. We’re back up to our former vim and vigor.
And finally we got a highly recommended upholsterer to replace the crumbling covers on the saloon cushions with ultrasuede I bought off eBay. He’s so good we had to wait six weeks for an appointment but he showed up on time and promised to deliver the finished work in three days. I got busy remaking the rest of our throw pillows to coordinate. Yes, by hand.
No matter how much we do the list is never done but we feel good about this haulout and confident in EV to take us through the coming cruising season safely and comfortably.