Went out Saturday to scrub the bottom of the boat near Hart Miller Island on the Chesapeake. Was able to reach most of the area below the water line though did not dive down to scrub the keel itself. On the whole the bottom paint looked fairly good and it clearly seemed to be keeping the hard growth off. One odd thing I noticed is right along the boot stripe at the waterline on the port side of the boat I had some barnacles. They grew only on the boot stripe which isn't a bioactive paint so no question about why there other than there was no similar growth on Starboard. Only real difference I could come up with was most of this summer the slip to starboard has been empty. Could either the more limited water flow or the shadows of the two boats effected this. The hull seemed to be sitting level and water line was just about the same place on each side.
A side from the scraping and scrubbing had a great sail. Crew was a friend's significant other, he was off racing and the admiral wasn't up to heading out early. After five years of sailing I really felt I knew my boat this day. The lifts and the headers were fun she and I understood each other and I actually felt when I gave instructions to Jackie she thought I knew what I was doing. So the magic moment when it all seems to come together. Hopefully it is a feeling will last going out for a solo overnight end of week and looking forward to seeing how that goes. Will be the first time I venture more than 40 miles away from home base under my own command.
A side from the scraping and scrubbing had a great sail. Crew was a friend's significant other, he was off racing and the admiral wasn't up to heading out early. After five years of sailing I really felt I knew my boat this day. The lifts and the headers were fun she and I understood each other and I actually felt when I gave instructions to Jackie she thought I knew what I was doing. So the magic moment when it all seems to come together. Hopefully it is a feeling will last going out for a solo overnight end of week and looking forward to seeing how that goes. Will be the first time I venture more than 40 miles away from home base under my own command.