Summer is half-over

July 2

Tired and frustrated. I love seeing the progress on the YellowBird, AND at the same time, I am so tired just bone-tired of working on her. I want to go to the beach and feel the sand on my feet and the sun on my face. I want to walk and listen to the waves. 

And she is not ready. I feel as if she will never be ready and that I will never have the chance to enjoy the fruits of all this labor. Logically I know that it is better to fix everything that needs to be fixed now while she is in the boatyard. And I do not mind the labor, but sometimes it seems never-ending... this labor of love on the YellowBird. I am a sand and sea girl. I am looking forward to the day (next year????) when I can sit in the cockpit while anchored offshore and sip an adult beverage. I want to enjoy sunsets and dancing on the flybridge. I feel as if I am never going to get there.

So this weekend, we (meaning Shawn) replaced the rotten supports underneath the door frame. We knew it had to be done before we recore the flybridge so this was the weekend. 

We braced and supported the sandwiched crossbeams that Shawn replaced previously. And by we I mean Shawn. I was the “gopher” for him.

He added additional supports from the stringers to the 2*4s that we sandwiched under the door support. Hot…boring…poor Shawn since he was underneath the cockpit in the storage spot all morning. We put a fan under there, but it was hot and muggy work for him.

So now the cockpit is ready for the door to be returned. Oh dang! That means I have to finish painting the door frame. It needs another pass with the spray paint. Hmmm...maybe we will just go for an "open" look and not replace the door. :)

I thought the flybridge was ready for recoring….NOT! Apparently we have to sand it smooth. Well, duh. It is logical, but it was so disheartening to realize that I wasn’t finished with the flybridge preparation. I thought I had it completed! Nope…it is neverending. My amazing Shawn actually did all the sanding (hmmmm….I  think he really does not trust me with powertools!) and I swept up all the ensuing debris. Yuck. I felt like I had dust in my lungs for hours afterwards!

Our pile of debris grows larger and larger. It is absolutely mind-boggling how much "stuff" we remove. Wood, epoxy chunks, unidentifiable material chunks. If the YellowBird were a person, she would be the equivalent of the "bionic woman" by the time we finish her! (Who else remembers watching the "Six Million Dollar Man" and the "Bionic Woman"?). And I wonder if I can put this experience on my resume and acquire work in a boatyard.

AND our materials for the recoring arrived! I have no idea of what is in the huge buckets...some sort of "goop" that we will use to "mud" the flooring. But it is so exciting to see the new clean materials and KNOW that we are going to have a sturdy flybridge floor...so I will get my dancing UNDER the stars!