Everything is s-l-o-w-i-n-g down

Here's an update on the status of boat stuff that needs to be done before Ms. Bettencourt can go cruising again.

• The boat must be hauled so I can finish painting the new hardtop's underside and framework. I want to get this done before starting on the canvas. Once on the hard, work days will probably be short because the Georgia summer has arrived with a vengeance and the coatings we will be using are fancy epoxy concoctions that have some definite application temperature boundaries.

• I have found a place to park the boat under a shed on the west side of the warehouse at the Augusta Ports Authority. This means we will probably be able to paint in the shade at least in the mornings. The haulout is scheduled for July 1 or 2.

• Canvas acquisition is in the preliminary ideas stage. The old canvas has been sold and will be on its way to another Albin-25 in upstate New York in August. I am now looking for the right craftsmen to make a new suit of canvas to work with Ms. Bettencourt's's new top.
  
  I do not think I will find the skills I need locally. There are a couple of possibilities in Charleston.
  
  The canvas should not be a big job-- I calculate about 45 square feet-- but it will be complicated. I would like to have screens and clear panes. There must be easy in and out access. A design that allows fast and easy canvas deployment and removal is also desired.
  
  I have put out calls for canvas ideas through the various boating channels and a few thoughts and leads have surfaced.  Please use the comments box below to post any ideas, experiences or examples of good canvas design that you might have to share.  

• Major interior and exterior paint work will be postponed until fall.

• It is my goal to be on the way to a cruise, likely somewhere in Florida, by the end of August.

Robert E. Lee

Tomorrow, I am off to a History Department program on the American Civil War at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. I am looking forward to hearing Prof. Freddie Kiger talk about "Lee's First Campaign--The Seven Days." 


The rest of the week will be spent exploring some battlefields in Virginia with a friend from Chapel Hill. 


While we're in Virginia, temperatures back in Augusta are expected to peg in the 100s. So it seems to me that now is a good time to step back from boat work for a time to pursue other interests in cooler climes.

The next installment of this chronicle will report on Albin painting work and canvas progress, plus, perhaps, some early cruise planning ideas.