David waxing Cambria's hull.
The rest of the week was as productive as the first day with help from beautiful weather – literally one of the few times in the past eighteen months that we were able to wear shorts and tee-shirts instead of layers. I was able to apply two coats of anti-foul paint on Wednesday and Thursday while David fixed a few dings in the rudder, got things ready for Thursday's survey and, because there's no water in the yard, cleaned the hull with Windex which worked remarkable well for some unknown reason.
In order to keep our insurance coverage, like all boats, we were required to have an up-to-date valuation and survey done. Because Cambria was built in England, we wanted the task performed by someone who would understand where her value lies – not in the US market necessarily, but in Europe. And David picked John Sanford out of Seattle, a fellow Brit, for the job.
He spent about seven hours tapping, prodding, prying and came up with little more than compliments. We have a few minor things to attend to – installing batteries in the smoke detectors (ironic when you consider David's former profession but not surprising when you consider my culinary skills), a few broken turning blocks to replace, and installing a pressure gauge to the propane tanks – but was more than impressed with the condition we keep Cambria in which is always good to hear. We love the old girl and take a great deal of pride in taking care of her, so it's nice when others notice and appreciate our efforts.
With the anti-foul on and my job complete, I left David to his own devices on Friday. While he laboured away waxing the hull, I started to get things ready for our push northward by doing laundry and getting a“summer” haircut – it was great to get away from the boat AND the boatyard.
As the day progressed, the wind increased and a trough moved into the area signalling the end of our fine weather. By evening, dust from the yard was blowing everywhere and the boat was jerking unnaturally in her props. It was gusting up to 30 knots about 30º off our port bow – I asked David if he wanted to lay out some more chain, but he didn't see the point. With no anchor watch to stand, we put in a movie and settled down for the night while Cambria rumbled and complained about the wind.
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