All of these were taken between April 26 and May 2!

The taffrail has long been a source of frustration aboard. No longer. New taffrail has been installed - and it even has 2 coats of paint.

We’d initially thought we’d use Brightside, a 1-part paint, on the green stripes. A last minute call to swap to Perfection (the 2-part paint we applied to the hull) meant some additional work was needed to prep.

First step to the paint project was removing all the hardware. Now we get to start reinstalling it!

We’d gotten one coat of primer on the green stripes before I had to head up to teach at Cruisers University; the plan HAD been to be able to put the first coat of green on by then. Unfortunately, spring weather in Virginia lived up to its changeable reputation and it was far too cold for the primer to kick as expected. Jeremy was on his own for sanding and applying the second coat of primer but I did return in time to help with the sanding required to be ready to paint.

3 days of sanding (and vacuuming) later, on Sunday we applied the first coat of green paint. Monday morning the alarm went off at 6:30, and by 9 we were at the boat. By 1:30, the second coat of green was on the stripes. Only 2 coats more to go!

One project that’s largely slid under the radar (at least as far as this blog is concerned) is the portholes. It’s worth an entire technical post. Short version: Calypso has 8 of these - and every last one of them has glass that’s no longer clear. The seal between the 2 pieces of glass is blown, plus they leak. Time for glass replacement and rebedding. It’s not a small undertaking at all. We’re in the final stages of it, though, with new gaskets being made and new inserts (acrylic, from Tap Plastics) on hand. There’s even one port reinstalled on the starboard side, though I forgot to take photos.

In the next couple of days, we’ll get the last 2 coats of paint on. Install all the ports. Fill any gaping deck holes. And . . . move out of the shed!

At least that’s the plan. Stay tuned to see how it all turns out.