Since we’ve been down in Seattle, I’ve been missing my harbor seal. He’s always been the lowest maintenance pet ever. He swims by. I wave. That’s the extent of our interaction and it’s worked well for both of us.

As I was sitting on my bed (because the salon is in such a state of disrepair), typing away on the laptop, I glanced out my window to see Mama Duck napping with her babies tucked underneath her.

Last week there were 8 ducklings; this week there are only 5. I got them some bread and dropped it out the porthole. Apparently it’s not scary for ducks to get really close to a food source if they can’t see the person dropping the food. They came right up to the boat, ate their fill, and are now napping again with all the babies tucked under Mama’s wing.

Me? I’m off to sand, varnish, and clean up the jobsite a bit.

Anybody else think this was a particularly boneheaded idea?

While I’m sure it was beautiful for about three weeks after installation, it’s always bugged me that they chose white carpets for a boat interior. Hello? Were you planning on USING the boat at all? I’m sure it was very expensive; the quality is quite good. But with the oil that was on the decks, it’s far from what I would call “practical.” Traffic areas? Yeah, pretty much all traffic in a 90 square foot salon goes over the same route. Again. And again. And again. I’ve lived onboard two years now. It’s at the point where steaming the carpets clean doesn’t even touch them.

Enter the Next Project. Man oh man, she will be a complete knockout when we’re done with this one. I’ll save the details for the post in which I can unveil the new salon flooring.

Which should be soon, given that Brock works me like a slave. To be fair, he drives himself much harder than he ever makes me work. And Katherine Jane is showing all the benefits of having a hard-working master directing her maintenance. Go, us!

I started with this:

And got to this:

While it’s by no means finished, I think it’s a good improvement in the bling factor of the boat.

Been working on my varnish skills and decided to go after the satin finish on the flying bridge wheel. It’s shiny now and quite pretty. I took the windshield out as well and gave the wood another coat of varnish. It’s all covered through the winter, so everything stays in fairly good condition.

I’ve been learning quite a bit about what works and what doesn’t with varnish (as with all lessons, I seem to have to learn them the hard way). It’s about time for me to read Rebecca again to see what I glean from her books now that I have a little more experience under my belt.

I swear, this boat will cure me of my “lazy” trait. I’ve always held that “lazy” and “efficient” are opposite sides of the same coin, but it’s arguable that I occasionally tend toward the negative end of that spectrum when it comes to projects. This boat is the first endeavor I’ve had in which “good enough” really isn’t. Perhaps my perception of what constitutes “good enough” has changed and the bar is set a bit higher. And so I’m learn to curb my impatience and desire for instant gratification. To actually spend time on surface prep.

And it does pay off. She’s looking better and better all the time. Many projects to share with you over the next few weeks. This is how summers are spent onboard…