Last Minute

I did the final cleaning today.  There will be leaves, no doubt.  But no dirty shoes.  She is packed and ready.  The trip will blow the leaves off.

I am leaving Tuesday, next week.  Monday is Karen's birthday, so I am staying a day to celebrate.

We actually have two warm days, yesterday and today.  Yesterday I sprayed Tridarka's decks with thick anti-slip paint.  The Awl-Grip product Griptex has worked well mixed in with the Interlux Brightside polyurethane.  The reason I had to repaint the ama was that I goofed on the last respray and left a few runs.  They were successfully sanded out and the final coat was applied with 33 lbs at the gun, thus avoiding excess flow.  This time, give or take a few landed gnats, it looks, well, perfect at least to me.

This is all in preparation for the debut of the new Tridarka at Cedar Key, May 4, 5, 2014.  We have two weeks reserved at the campground in our favorite site, number 38.  I almost gave up on getting Tridarka ready this year, but Indian Summer gave me a second chance.

During the winter I will finish the steering and the rigging and be ready to go.

Meanwhile, Belle is ready for up to 2 months out on the Gulf Coast of Florida.