Monthly Archives: May 2024

“Get the ship READY!!!!” ’24

Our 20th preseason “sand and paint-athon” commences!!

So let’s be realistic. This is my 20th year of getting the vessel ready for the up-coming summer season and at some point the photos kind of look a lot alike. Hard working crews in dusty, smelly conditions putting in long days to bring the ship into top shape. The kayak guides that arrive to help prepare the ship acquire new and serious “buy-in” after working so hard to make her perfect. An otherwise obsequious guide might use pretty strong language with a guest if they see a sandy, gritty, scratchy bag placed on “their” bright-work!

So “to save my breath to cool my porridge”  . . . I’ll throw a bunch of photos here to give you all an idea of the amount of work it takes to get the COLUMBIA III ready. This year there were 6-7 crew for about 10 days just getting the exterior finishes ready.

Luke’s wheel house repairs ready for paint . . .

and the paint floats come in for the hull work . . .

and the wheelhouse/deckhouse had all its wires and hardware removed prior to sanding and painting . ..

and typically grumpy Nadya prepping the roof. . .

and bits and pieces moved to the shop for sanding and painting . . .

and I made a batch of two of cookies for crew coffee time . . . I believe that’s a Boss’s most important daily task . . . getting the coffee ready on time . . .

all the brightwork is sanded without the use of power tools . . .

 

Luke bringing the modified main engine belt guard back from his shop next door.

I tried to stay out of the way in the engine room replacing the desalinator’s sea chest that was dripping salt water into my engine room . . .

and some new finish starts to go on . . .              

 

a team of 3 paints the wheel/deck house . . . roller, cutter, tipper.

fresh muffins for lunch . . . pecan/cranberry/oat/gluten free/vegan . . . . 

the repaired corner looking almost done . . .

And of course someone saw Biggs orca passing the bay and I asked if anyone wanted to go get a tiny bit closer . . .  on payroll .  . . and I quickly found willing participants!!!!

Nadya getting ready to go to “C”.

the interior wheel house foot rest gets a face-lift . . .

Exterior wheel house stairs get attention . . .

and the decks get taped to make the non-skid coating extra fancy . . .

Steve applying the non-skid grit . . .

NOBODY is allowed on board with shoes for a day or two out of respect for the glorious  fresh deck coating . . .

and I keep puttering . . .  a new carburetor for the salon fireplace . . .

and upgrading engine room procedures . . .

She’s looking pretty shiny!

and finally the kayaks come out of the rafters . . .

and the shed gate is opened . . .

and the heavy winter mooring lines are dropped . . .

and out she comes!!!! I had “Joy to the World” blaring on a speaker as we gently pulled the COLUMBIA III out of the shed. What a huge day for me!!!

and the masts are up!

But details remain;  Luke is putting a coat on the salon table . . .

and all the bedding and mattresses need to come down to the ship AFTER the insides have been washed, scrubbed, wiped and cleaned for about 3 days to put a dent in the winter’s work dust accumulations!!!!

And the refinished wheel house step is bolted back into place after Luke’s extensive repairs to that corner. No one will even notice!

And there are always the small tasks that I thrive on . . . . the small, heavy hydrophone sensor we use to listen to orcas vocalizing  never had a proper “home”. It hung from a brass hook and as the ship rolled gently on the waves the little devil would go, ‘clunk, clunk, clunk”. Deeply annoying . . .  So I made a small mahogany holder, stained, varnished and installed . . .

Ok . . . enough is enough. I take the ship to Campbell River in a few days for preliminary safety inspections and then the big Transport Canada inspection in about 10 days. I am too busy to keep fiddling around on this blog!!

Bye for now!!!