From December 1st onwards, we worked at getting the boat shed built. Virtually everyday we welded or nailed or measuered trying to get the building up in time for the spring painting of the Columbia III. We finally got the masts off, the roof fabric on and the ship slipped under cover. Phew! And the VERY NEXT DAY, as planned last fall, Steve arrived on his sailboat to begin the annual refit.
“Wow! The shed looks great! How long has the boat been under cover?”
“Oh, about 12 hours.”
We got done exactly on schedule though perhaps with a few more grey hairs.
Below are a few painting shots. It was very busy and I didn’t seem to take that many photos. I had thought that it would be a sunny spring after the boat was under cover, but no, we had 3-4 people sanding and painting the boat from early April into May and it rained every day but 3! The shed was awesome. Since we had the masts off we stripped them and this year we painted literally every inch of the exterior of the Columbia III from the top of the mast to the bottom of the keel. And boy does she look good now.
We had the masts off for hinging and overhaul but that left a lot of wires hanging from the rafters. Speakers, running lights, floodlights and airlines for the horn. It looked pretty chaotic for a while. Note the new mast hinge in place. We welded these up and shipped them to Vancouver to be hot-dipped galvanized.
Our son, Tavish, at work.
Family friend, ace kayak guide and blossoming bright work specialist, Steve Schellenberg