#21: Sunny Side Up!
The month of March and the first few weeks of April just flew by. Yep, there they went, along with the migrating birds! Nick spent most of his boat-building time on sanding . . . and sanding some more. Wax on, wax off. . . . Wax on, arm fall off.
Besides sanding, we were somehow talked into doing other fun things with friends and family. First, we ran a local 5K and loathed the pain so much we’re probably going to do it again next year. (We need to remind ourselves from time to time how good we have it when we actually get to relax.) After we successfully didn’t injure ourselves running a few miles, we accepted another invitation to push our luck even more. We strapped our legs into snowboards and spent a week carving the powder in Utah. And I mean powder—it snowed three times while we were there. That trip was a blast! We are so grateful for our friends and family who talk us into getting out of sanding, keeping life full of potholes and moguls!
Back to boat business: Nick and Tristan worked out how we’d flip our hulls right side up. They would use pulleys and modified scaffolding as makeshift overhead cranes. After Nick returned to sanding, Tristan helped assemble the all-important cradles that would support Felicity’s hulls right side up.
In the first week of April, we painted the hulls from the water line down with three coats of epoxy primer. It left a silver-gray with orange peel texture when we were done, so of course, Nick felt the urge to sand some more.
And now for “Sunny Side Up” Day! My parents came to visit at just the right time, but it was coincidental timing based on the local kite fest that my mom wanted to check out. My dad has been eager to help with the boat, and they finally were able to see it in person!
To turn the hulls, the first thing we had to do was break them and their supports loose from the concrete floor.
Starting with the starboard hull, we straddled each end with a scaffold (crane) and ran a strap underneath. Using four people, one at each pulley, we hoisted the hull several feet off the floor, high enough to gingerly roll it over inside the straps.
And then we did the same process for the port side. Et voila! The whole process of flipping both hulls took a bit over an hour, and luckily it was all very anticlimactic.
To celebrate a couple of upright hulls, I think I’ll cook some eggs: one sunny side up and another over easy.
If you're interested in watching how we flipped the hulls, check out the video below: