Tropical Storm Elsa Prep 07 Jul 21

 07 Jul 21:

We knew we didn't leave tropical storms behind when we left the Northern Gulf Coast for the Mid Atlantic, and sure enough, here comes Elsa. Our goal today was to move boats on heavy trailers out of the yard, we still have some grading to do to help water flow towards the property lines of the new property. The Day Sailer II CYANE moved first, to the driveway, which is probably her permanent spot. Her foredeck is filthy from Spring having sprung on her back in March, Skipper appeared with some TILEX and we gave her a fresh water rinse. 

TILEX is great, we sprayed the foredeck and before we could even get the rinse going the mildew/mold began to disappear. We wiped her down to get the stubborn spots and rinsed her off. The key to TILEX is to spray everything and avoid drips down the side, they'll leave cleaner streaks than the neighboring areas. CYANE enjoyed her bath and reminded us of how much fun Capn Jack had rinsing her off and picking leaves out of her bilge, back aft by the self bailer. It is important to keep that bailer clear, we have come out one time and found CYANE stern down on the ground, trailer jack in the air, after the bailer plugged and rain water collected aft.

Next we moved WILLOW to the back porch, that may be her slip as well, plans are in work to cover the porch and screen it in, with an 8 foot wide door to move her in and out. We also plan to plank the porch with some deck boards, who wants to walk on concrete? The wood will help retain moisture, and a shade cover will help ensure that she does not bake on the concrete during the Summer., which is not ideal for a wooden boat. 

With the heavy trailers moved, we turned our attention to the Sunfish Fleet, punt, canoe and kayaks. The kayaks CLARK and SACAGAWEA went on the utility trailer, that may be their spot, as we plan to haul them over to the nearby kayak launch spot on Cypress Creek on a regular basis. We moved all the little boats over to where the new Sunfish Shack will be located to get an idea of what size footprint we need, and while they were moved we mowed the spot where they had been. Then, because we are tropical storm leary, we moved them back and placed the dolly wheels on rubber wash mats. The mats are perforated and help keep water drained away and tires out of the muck.

The Grumman canoe SCOUT  leaned up against our punt SCUPPERS, and we tied SCOUT down to the dolly for good measure. Next we moved PHOENIX, MADISON and WAVE back to their temporary spots, placing wash mats under the dolly wheels. A new trick we are trying is using old deck chairs to prop up the bows of the Sunfish, so that any water that finds its way into the cockpits will drain out of the open bailers.

We leave the masts on the deck and cover the Sunfish with their SLO Sail and Canvas "Spars On Deck" covers, the mast makes a nice ridgepole to help direct water off of the sides, vs creating a puddle over the cockpit.

One Sunfish though, MADISON, was missing her mast. Perplexed, I looked high and low for it, nowhere to be found. Then I wondered if somehow the mast had ended up in PODS container #1, separated from MADISON's booms and sail. Luckily I had a photo of the contents of PODS 1, and sure enough, there looks to be an extra mast in there, hiding beneath our Catfish SMEDLEY.. 

PODS 1 is inbound, due on site tomorrow, so we'll find out then for sure, we haven't seen it for 5 months. Also arriving in PODS 1 are the wooden Standard Sailfish WINNIE, wooden Super Sailfish TRACKER, 1953 wooden Sunfish ZIP and the first few parts for the Pascagoula Diamond Bottom Catboat MARGARET ROSE. And more of Skipper's wagon train. And a cone. And Christmas decorations. And a plethora of Alcort parts. Where we put it all? Stay tuned.