Sailing

You may know I’ve taken up sailing in the past 5 years and currently own a 37ft sailboat. She’s 25 years old but in great condition… other than the bottom of the hull has been neglected badly. One has to put antifouling paint on the wetted surface – to prevent animals and plants attaching themselves! Normally each year (or every other year at least), you’d put more paint on – but the general thought is that you’d sand off the old stuff first… Well “Toodle-oo!” hasn’t had her bottom cleaned in 25 years by the look of it. So, this year we set to remove all the build-up. 9 full days of sanding, stripping, sanding, stripping, sanding and stripping – and finally we’re down to the bare hull. Nice smooth white fiberglass. You can imagine that sanding the bottom of a boat is not much fun – arms often up above your head – hopefully the family’s medical bills for achy backs and necks won’t add up to too much!