We are on the hard and Doug is reminiscent of those long days the last time Long Shot II was in a parking lot. It’s time to get the bottom repainted given that it’s been nearly three years since it was last done. That is really good considering most boats barely make it to the year two mark. Must have been the good bottom paint Doug got somewhere…down a dark alley. We are in Earth-friendly NZ so he won’t have the same luck here. We also have to raise the waterline. Imagine that? I guess you can’t take everything and the kitchen sink! After many people stopped by to comment at how far we are raising the waterline (easy to find how high – just follow the line of barnacles!) Doug is now saying that maybe we better have a look at what is in our compartments and maybe trim her better. Don’t kid yourself, Garage-Sale-Doug won’t part with a thing. It’s not a straight forward change as we have to sand off the paint, remove the blisters that were starting where we didn’t have bottom paint, epoxy the holes, smooth them out, Interlux coat this area, prime and then anti-foul. At least it’s only three inches the entire length of the boat. Oh, and we also found out that we draw 6ft 6in – that’s six inches more than we thought! No wonder why there was no growth on the bottom of the keel.
Lots of North American boats here so Doug is drumming up support for a convoy back to the west coast. Someone to talk to on those long night shifts! We’ll see if he has any luck convincing them. The joy of cruising – no one really has hard and fast plans as it seems to develop all on its own. We were discussing the Visa renewal oops we had and found out that a Sask. couple have been coming to NZ for six month holidays (less a day) for the past 10 years and they have NEVER renewed their visa! Really?! But then we wouldn’t have the step-down transformer which makes Doug a very happy man not to mention the six bottles of rum!
We’ve had some great visits these past few weeks seeing people from BC including Roger, Derrick, Robin, Wayne & Lucy. It’s hard not to start finding out what is happening back home and I haven’t been able to decide whether I like hearing all the work news or not. It seems like a world away (well at least half a world) and no doubt it’ll all change many times over before we are back. Regardless, it’s so nice to see friendly faces and hard to believe it takes going to NZ to see them. They’ll have to stay away right now or they’ll end up with a paint roller in their hands!