PYC - Fleetwing Getting Ready

Matthew then

When it comes to getting a boat ready for a season of cruising, there's nothing like a college-age grandkid to help out! Matthew is a senior at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island with a major in architecture. Now he's learning the ins and outs of taking care of a boat but I'm learning a few things too. I usually take a day to wash and wax one side of Fleeting and finish waxing the next day and another day to sand the rust spots on the keel. Matthew did the waxing and sanding all in one day with a double waxing on the box (which prevents the ICW mustache). Nice to be young.

Matthew now

This year I used POR 15 on the keel based on recommendations from club members, a change from my usual Bar Rust 235. We'll see how it performs. I've had a long battle with my cast iron keel, there are always rust spots to tend to. On the other hand, there's a lot of it and there's little danger of it rusting away. It just looks unsightly out of the water but then no one looks at it when I'm sailing except the divers.

All I have left to do is one more coat of POR 15 and then it's on to the bottom paint. I used Pettit Ultima SR-60. which survives well in the Florida warm waters. I used to use Interlux Micron CSC but after a disastrous year in Florida with giant barnacles, I gave up and used the Pettit paint as recommended by my diver. It's has stood up much better than the Interlux paint which I had used for years while cruising in the northeast. It just didn't work down south.

I've used Semco Honeytone since day one on the teak

I plan on launching Fleetwing on 8/28, next Tuesday and we hope to leave even before our usual 9/15. We would really like a leisurely trip south, unlike last year when we had to dodge all the hurricanes. Speaking of which, it's been extremely quiet in the Caribbean. We had heard that the Caribbean water temperatures reached an all-time low this winter and vertical wind shear remains high, both of which suppress hurricanes. We can only hope it continues.

I use Fleetwax, a paste wax applied by hand

                                   I do like that shine!