SPLASH! After days of grueling work (some of us more than others), we have improved KJ in some big ways. Her bottom is freshly painted. It was actually in great shape when she came out of the water, much better than I had expected, which was a nice surprise. No growth, bottom paint in good shape. It was just the waterline where the bottom paint had sloughed off that looked pretty crummy. The rest was really good.

MAJOR kudos to Dean and Joe, our master welders, for their incredible rudder modification (which will be a post unto itself ~ it’s genius, really). And to Kris and Danny for their unflagging efforts in painting and keeping the crew fed while I was at work. And to Clark for his expert and diligent sanding & painting. To Brock, with whom without I could never, ever do this. (How you appeared in my life when I needed you the most and made my personal Fairy Tale Happy Ending a reality is unbelievable magic.) Brock designed the rudder modifications with Dean ~ watching the two of them brainstorm something is an incredible thing. We managed to stay almost within budget (maybe over by just a little, but pretty close). Dean said I’ve pretty much figured out the perfect way to do the whole boat thing: I had to work every day this week and would mostly appear in the evening to applaud the progress that was made daily.

I did show up to paint the bottom of the keel; it was sort of my penance for having to be at my day job and not be here for a lot of the grunt work. I figured crawling around on the ground to get to the very bottomest bits more than made up for it, really. I discovered that I really love bottom painting ~ it’s total Jamie style. None of that “tape it off, be neat and precise and tidy and don’t get any paint on anything else.” Nope, it’s the “Just get it on everything you see” approach. I have that skill.

So now we’re at anchor again, ready to slay the pink salmon in the morning. I’m anticipating a well-deserved sleep-in while Brock and Dean fish. I’m so very, very content.