I am never sure how I feel about Fall. On the downside, it’s the end of the summer boating season. On the other hand, it’s the transitional time to start gearing up for the big winter boat projects. For me, this is the way I get twelve months of enjoyment out of a boat: spring and summer cruising and fall and winter boat projects. Some folks button up the boat and head off to home and hearth. You can find me all winter long with tools in hand. Winter boat work is the best.
This summer we here in the PNW had an amazing summer of cruising. Countless warm days (and a few smokin’ hot ones by our standards) mostly calm, flat water and, in my case, enough time this year to go out and enjoy it. The weather cooled a bit in the first half of September but we were able to enjoy a mostly dry, calm trip to the San Juans for a couple of weeks. The Dickinson diesel stove, after taking the summer off, ran continuously to ward off the chilly mornings and cool evenings. Some years we even get a bonus of great weather thru September and into October, but not this year. We returned from the San Juans mid-September and the weather switched to rain, wind and occasionally, sun. Unfortunately, the few good days conflicted with already booked “other” events.
This Fall I’ve been picking off small projects that can be done in a day or less. Most of those are maintenance related after putting a lot of hours on the boat over the summer. At the same time I started mapping out the winter work. Some years, I’ve been able to keep the boat ready to go all winter in case we get a good day to get out on the water. This winter I have bigger projects and the boat will be out of service for quite some time. Last winter was similar. The projects started mid-October and I didn’t finish until the end of April. Typically, I wait until November 1 to start, just in case October offers up some nice cruising days. Year round, I keep a running list of projects, divided up under Spring Haulout, Winter Projects and Completed. The completed section is just so I can look back and remind myself that I’m moving forward. Sometimes I need that about mid-winter when it seems like progress is some nautical version of Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day.
This year I dug the list out in late September and prioritized the projects. Supply chain problems this year had to be considered so I did order some items right away but most of what I have going this year is wood repair in the deck and cabin, along with plenty of painting which is mostly my labor. (See “Todd’s Boats” page and look for “Grandy” for some background on the current boat). So as the rain comes down and the days get shorter, I’ll start to dig into this year’s projects. I will keep you posted…
Todd Powell Boats 