5200 In My Hair!

It's been a busy week. The boat goes in a week from Friday and there is much left to do. Jeff installed new engine room blowers and a new VHF antenna on Thursday. We began prepping our “Castine dinghy” for its launch date next week. We have two dinghies, one inflatable which stays on the fly-bridge of aCappella and a 13 foot Boston Whaler that we keep at the Castine Town Dock in the summer. The Whaler allows us to easily cart the dogs, ourselves, and lots of gear across the river to our mooring. Truth be told, it's the dog's favorite boat as we often use it to take them swimming at Indian Bar.

Today we left very early to spend the day at the boat. Our main task for the day was to remove the shrink-wrap and put up the bimini. It has to be completed in a single day as once we remove the shrink-wrap the upper helm is exposed to the elements. Taking off the shrink-wrap, that's kind of like opening a present - it's fun. But putting up the bimini? This is always a frustrating task which tries the marriage. The absolute worst part is putting the anchor light back up. It's a 5 pound pole that I must hold above my head for hours (he claims moments) while Jeff applies 5200 sealant and puts in the screws. To add insult to injury, this year a glob of 5200 landed in my hair! Yes, a thoroughly waterproof, resistant to everything sealant ended up in my hair (on a boat with no water, on a Sunday when nothing around was open). As the wind picked up and dark clouds gathered, we rushed to apply the canvas and miraculously finished before the sky opened up. After a few other minor tasks were finished, we climbed into the car for the nearly 2 hour ride home. We decided to reward ourselves with a DQ Blizzard on the way home. It was great but doesn't help the fact that I still have 5200 sealant in my hair...