Boaters know weather reports are important for trip planning, fishing and safety. A change in the weather can alter plans quicker than a bluefish blitz. With water temperatures in Boston Harbor still hovering in the upper 30's, our first trip of the season is still over a month away. However, a nice warm sunny weekend helps kickstart the season before Fishing Season; Boat Preparation Season.
Brave, Two-Part Epoxy-armed warriors enter the boatyard with power tools, wool hats, and maybe a sandwich. They hope their work will help add value and performance to their vessel, but more importantly convince Spring to get it's act together.
So as Wednesday turned into Thursday and Thursday turned into Friday, I was guilty of staring at green globs on radar maps and refreshing my web browser for the latest weekend forecast. There is still a lot of work to be done on the boat. Some quality time in the boatyard was in my immediate future.
I found the Miller Time still wearing its winter coat. The wind was whipping. My dog, Paulie (who isn't so sure about this whole boating thing), was tethered to the orange support post holding the boat.
The boat's hull was sodablasted last fall. Not only is this a cool word, but it is a way to remove years of bottom paint from the boat hull without damaging the fiberglass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodablasting).
While it is effective, the process also exposes any flaws and imperfections to the hull. These flaws need to be fixed, usually by being filled with a thin resin or epoxy.
Unfortunately, it must be 60 degrees outside for the epoxy to harden after it is applied. It was not 60 degrees, nor would it be 60 degrees soon. So, my productive day working on the boat turned into a long lunch at Redbones.
The moral of the story: The weather, even when the boat is out of the water, will dictate your plans. And, always consider the Catfingers when sitting at the bar at Redbones.
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