Painting the Windlass

I love Spring and warm sunny days, especially on the weekend.  Of course, that also means boat projects and the "honey do" list.   I imagine that honey do lists are a bit different for live  aboards than for dirt dwellers. 

I'll bet that "get rid of Whaler" and "paint windlass" aren't on most lists.

I fixed the hot water handle on the galley faucet.  It was squeaking.  This was a very exhausting project and involved removing a set screw, removing the handle, and cleaning the gunk out of the valve, and then putting the handle back on.   There's five minutes of my life that I'll never get back. 

I took the dogs to the dog park.  The dogs were very disappointed.  All the dogs there were of the little lap variety, and no one to wrestle with.   So, we did two laps around the twenty acre park, and then Dexter the six month old American Bulldog showed up, so all was good again.   Later, back at the boat, I decided to attack the windlass project.  I know, you're thinking "how does he find the energy to do this, especially after the faucet project?"   Well, all I can say is that you have to do what you have to do.  

Amazingly, the windlass works, but it looks nasty.

I guess if I sat outdoors for thirty years, I'd look pretty nasty too. 

I spent about an hour with a scraper and a wire brush getting all the rust off, and then masked it with blue tape.   I managed to get one coat of Rustoleum on it, and I'll do another coat tomorrow.  

I used a satin finish white.  One of my upcoming projects is to finish painting the boat, including the inside of the gunnell.  When I do that, I'll hit the windlass again so it matches the boat and has a nice glossy finish.

I celebrated completing one boat project (the faucet) and beginning another with a work beer.  

By the way, have you ever noticed that when you wear old clothes to paint in, you don't spill a drop?  But wear good clothes and the paint seems to jump right out of the can on you.

Pam went to the store, and when she returned she had bought a bag of mussels.   $2.99 for a HUGE bag.   It was good eating!

We ate out on the foredeck where the mussel shells could be tossed overboard.  The sun and warm 50 plus degree weather was delightful.   The dogs watched us eat with great interest so we fed them a few mussells.  They actually ate them.  Dogs will eat anything.  As soon as the sun dipped behind the office building next to the marina, it got very chilly so we beat feet inside.

Life on the boat continues to be good.  Very, very good.