After six coats of Interprotect Epoxy comes two coats of Antifouling. I'm putting on two antifouling coats because we are expected to be away for two years. After the blue wears off I will begin to see the red coat and I will know when it's time to lift out the boat to apply more antifouling. With the extra left over paint, I put a lot more around the water line where the antifouling will wear off faster. I will be very interested to see how long it will last.

First coat red.

Second coat blue

 



I needed to spend more money so I'm having a new rudder installed. You can see in this picture Peter from Northshore Boatworks has dropped the old rudder and is waiting to have the boat lifted to install a new one.

Old rudder

First coat of epoxy

 I have filled in the blister holes and applied my first coat of epoxy.

So now I have two weeks before the boat goes in the water. I have five more coats of epoxy and two coats of antifouling paint to apply. The weather is not warm enough so it looks like everything with be done the last minute.
Six more weeks before we leave and still lots to do.

MY BOTTOM IS CLEAN!

 It's been a long two months since I started trying to clean the bottom of the boat. It's finally done! The VC Tar was to hard to get off so I had Stuart Lissaman from RESULT SURFACE PREPERATION come over and blast the VC Tar off. He used a combination of water and glass, similar to sand blasting.

 

That's Stuart blasting off the VC Tar.

"VC-Tar" is a barrier coating made by Interlux, not a bottom paint. Normally used as a build up material before applying a bottom paint. If you Google "VC TAR" every one is asking "what's the best way to get this off".
                                                         Here's my clean bottom!

Stuart did a great job.

It's been a long winter with lots of planning.

                            Things we need to do before we leave.
1. Get rid of our belongings. We got rid of everything but the cloths we can fit on the boat.
"Yikes"
2. We updated our passports, and applied and got our Nexus pass.
3. We sent away for our OHIP 2 year extension .
4. We bought a 2 year medical insurance plan.
     CAA is great if you are a member. You get a discount rate.
5. Made doctor appointments for prescriptions for 2 years and medical checkup.
6. We ordered a Cruising Decal to Cruise the USA.
7. We updated the boat registry.
8. We applied for maritime radio station licence
9.Applied and received a "Maritime Mobile Service Identities" ( MMSI #)
10. Updated our boat insurance.
11. Applied for Small Vessel Reporting System. This is like a sail plan that is given to the   boarder patrol.
12. Purchased and registered our new ACR Aqua Link. Personal Beacon that send emergency signal to the Coastguard  with our position.
13. Updated Flares
14. Bought new instruments.  Garmin AIS Automatic Identification System. It is like having the same thing as a transponder on a plane.
15.Purchased new Mantis anchor for better holding in the Caribbean.
 16. Purchased new Waterway Ports books for the Intercostal waterways and Paper Charts and Electronic Charts for Florida and the Caribbean.
17. Purchased a new computer and extra hard drives to save pictures and blog.
18. Updated our Wills
19. have Roy the mechanic replace the injectors and tighten the head on the engine.
I hope we have covered all aspects of leaving the dock,,,, If anyone thinks we have missed anything then please let us know.
Whew!





BACK TO THE GRIND

tThe weather is not cooperative and time is a ticking,,,,There is still a lot more to do. In March we built a tent around the base of the boat. So we can get at this big job. 













We have built this tent around the boat to do sanding. Over the winter I found some blisters in the bottom and they have to be opened up to dry out. After sanding the bottom I will apply 6 coats of epoxy and 2 coats of salt water anti fouling. I am having a bad time sanding off the VCTAR. This stuff is not coming off easy. I have to find and purchase some 24 or 36 grit sand paper and see if that will get it off.

This is a picture of the VCTAR

 

“Well It's Official"
After attending the Toronto Boat Show we committed to joining a fleet of boats at Deltaville Va.
We will be due to arrive on Oct. 19th 2016. " Sail To The Sun Rally".
At Deltaville on the Chesapeake Bay, we will rally up with a fleet of boats, 18 I think. We will
Cruise together 1125 n. miles and we will arrive in Miami Dec.15th. Along the way
we will use marina slips, mooring balls, city walls and anchorages. Time will be taken to explore
some amazing cities filled with History and diversity.
Our Fleet captain is Wally Moran. Wally is an expert and well known to the ICW. Wally has also
cruised south to the Bahamas, Cuba and the US east coast. Wally also writes for the Waterway
Guide and for Sail magazine.
Going on this rally we will develop a much deeper cruising experience and gain confidence to
go further south. Our experience will be a lot different than sailing the Great Lakes. We are up
for the challenge and the adventure and also meeting other boaters with the same dreams.
If you want to read more about the "Sail To The Sun” rally go to....www.icwally.com

Late August I started having maintenance work done on the engine by Roy of Roy's Marine Service. So the boat has been on the dock for most of September. We haven't been able to do much sailing this season due to all the work being done. I'm sure we will make up for it next year.

This fall the boat came out early so we could sand the old antifouling paint off the bottom in warm weather. I hate working on the boat in cold and wet October weather. Well we had a beautiful day for sanding. We were working hard as we watched everyone set out for a great day on the water. Sanding the bottom is a nasty dirty job. We had to tarp around the boat and place a tarp on the ground to catch all the old paint. Laurie say's she has never been this dirty before. Here's a picture of the hard working girl taking a break. She did a great job!

We anchored at Fifty Point Beach for the night. We always get a great sun set.