The funny thing is, I left home for this trip telling Jeanne I’d be back in ten days, including the drive time. Did I actually think this was 7 days of boat work? 15 days in to it, it sure is looking like 30+ days. And that’s the same reality that took our imagined fall 2013 original launch in to June 2016. Some day I’ll learn, “it is what it is”.

In this video there’s a first. First time since launch of cutting away part of the hull for something more than a planned thru-hull fitting. I had subconsciously organized the first week in MX to avoid starting on the engine project, because I was dreading doing this surgery. But it was pretty magical on that cold Monday morning to once again have the amazingly strong smell of the cut Western Red Cedar. That wood needs to stay entombed between the fiberglass skins for the life of the boat, but getting a fresh hit of that aroma right before Christmas was a lightning bolt. Also thinking here that Ravenswing is fairly unique – an old-school technique wood core boat with the latest carbon fiber, poly foam core, and synthetic fiber cordage for her fittings and upgrades. Not a big race boat, but not a houseboat either.

Here you get to watch more days go by, all of the hours consumed by the many steps of composites fabrication work. Blending the new flat-planes into the curved cabin sides, in order to get a fair and watertight mount of the new port lights, was painstaking work. That’s all done now, sitting in MX waiting for painting weather. It’s not explained in the video, so the issue is that below 70 degrees F, it’s “iffy” that the two-part linear polyurethane (the toughest, best wearing) marine topsides paint will ‘flash’ fully enough to result in the hi-gloss finish. If it doesn’t get warm enough, it will still harden over time, but the surface goes matte / dull. This is what happened in Nov 2018 back in Sausalito when we did the cosmetic damage repairs from the dismasting. It never got warm enough, but we had to paint anyway because Ravenswing was blocking the Spaulding Boat Works wharf / crane and they just couldn’t keep other customers held up. So I had an insurance-paid repair that had an inferior paint result. We’ll finally be fixing that here in this haul out.

Enjoy the show, and meanwhile we’re busy again back in the home workshop getting more parts ready to take back to the boat.