July 3 @ 9:13pm

Told Ya! rolled out of the our driveway with crooked tail lights and all at 9:13 pm to go to the Sailboat shop for all the finishing touches.

We have been working real hard the past several days with incredible help from all of our friends. Doug Pope, of Pope Sails from Maine and his son Colin, are in town and have been busy helping to get the boat ready. Carolyn Legg who sewed No.39 onto the old sails from 1946 that Libby and I found in the barn, and of course Libby and Jack! Thank you all so, so, very much! We could not have done it without your help and encouragement. We can all honestly admit that at one point or another we had our doubts, but we kept plugging away. Poor Doug, when he first saw the boat on Wednesday, he just shook his head and wasn't quite sure what to think.

It has been a busy week. On Tuesday Jack and Schyler were told by the Village Police to shut down at 11:15pm just when they were on a roll with the deck. We have had to battle with thunderstorms, hail, heavy rains, and missing parts which at times really hampered the the progress of the boat. But little by little, the work got done.

Did I mention the Regatta starts tomorrow???

Into the early morning...

Oh my God! It's July 1st tomorrow and the Regatta is days away! I'm still at work downloading a wedding I shot Saturday, Libby is at the Sailboat Shop working on sails and I'm sure Schyler is going to be heading home in just a few to hopefully step the mast. My job tonight is cleaning the sails and removing numbers so that we can put on No.39. Not so bad.

Apparently everyone and their uncle stopped by yesterday as Rob was painting the name of the boat on. We were hoping to keep it secret until the boat was launched, but we do live in too small of a town! However, Chris Moore who did stop by, kept his promise not to tell because my daughter Kinsey asked him what it was and he would not tell her. Gotta love it. And Chris, I'm working on getting that little GTI!

A quick photo of Schyler around midnight sitting on a seat IN THE BOAT! She's coming together!!!

PS-I photoshopped the name the boat off. You wanna know what it is, stop by and say hello!

Well, it's 10pm and Schyler is still out in the little barn working on the boat. Our friend Rob Hazard stopped by today and painted the name of the boat on in gold leaf. It is so beautiful and will really shine once we varnish the transom again. Thank you sooo much Rob! While Rob was painting, Schyler put in the winch pully and mast step and is now putting in all the floor boards. We took photos today and will post them tomorrow when I have a chance to download them. In the meantime, here are a couple of photos to show the difference from when we started and where we were at a couple of weeks ago. I will have to admit the longest and hardest part of this whole restoration, at least for me, was the stripping and sanding. We used all kinds of strippers from the environmentally friendly and very expensive products ($75. a gallon) to the cheap basic stripper from Lowes ($25. a gallon) and to be honest the cheaper ones worked far better and faster. The environmentally friendly version worked best if you slapped on gobs of it and let it sit in a dark, damp garage for a few days and then pull the paint off only to have to reapply in the tough spots.

That's enough for tonight!

More up to date photos tomorrow!

Sails, Jibs & Mains

Today Libby, Owen and Schyler got the mast out of the barn to make sure all was in order. Hopefully we will be able to step the mast Monday. We also looked through the barn for jibs and mains and found some cotton sails from 1946 that are in incredible shape. The one sail we all decided to use has all these stamps on it from previous Regattas in the 1950's. All they need is some cleaning and soaking in the sun. We were so excited to find these beautiful sails.

We still have a million little things to do.....

Brushes, Primer and Varnish

Things are getting close, but we are still working toward to the goal of getting the boat in the water for the Regatta! Last night we had quite the crew working. Libby and I were given little itty bitty brushes to paint primer on the hull. I didn't think anything of the size of the brush, however once Libby got there and was given her brush, a comment was made. Apparently we could have used bigger brushes, but we used what we had and giggled all the way. Actually, once we got started and began talking about the Jeep

Libby would like to buy and the VW GTI I test drove that
afternoon, the size of the brushes no longer mattered and the
boat began to take on a whole new look. Jack stopped by and
helped us finish priming and Libby fastened the deck to the
hull.

Curtis, a friend and co-worker from the Sailboat Shop came by and helped Schyler put a second coat of varnish on 75 pieces. It was a busy scene here at the house.

What's next? A million little things....

On another subject....here's the little turbo charged GTI I zipped around in this afternoon. Just LOVE the color! Tornado Red!!!

When's the Regatta??

Well, the paint stripper/sanding wench has been sent below to update the Blog! I am sure everyone has been curious as to how we are doing with our Lightning No. 39. Well, after an unexpected trip to Colorado for a week, the beginning of Schyler's busy season at the Sailboat Shop, the beginning of my crazy wedding season, a move to a new studio, and the unfortunate ACUTE and extremely painful tendonitis of my right shoulder, (the money arm as Schyler puts it) all progress STALLED. The poor thing sat there all by herself screaming for attention. Scream, baby, scream....my arm is killing me, boats need to be launched, gear needs to be moved, and weddings shot.

After everything calmed down, we got going again. With all the layers of paint dating from 1939 were stripped and sanded, which took FOREVER, we varnished the inside of the hull. We, with the help of Libby, who has been here working under thunderstorms and golf ball size hail sanded and stained all the floor boards and everything not attached to the hull. The framing is all back on, old and new. Libby even admitted last night she saw the a light at the end of the tunnel. We have been working every night until dark, Schyler even later under the lights from The Yacht Club, to get as much as possible done. I love watching him. I've never seen someone so motivated. It's very cool for me. However, as I look out the window I'm not quite sure what he is doing, only to say he has latex gloves on. Perhaps I should supervise.

So, what needs to be done in the last few days? Varnish all the floor boards and miscellaneous parts, which Schyler apparently is doing right now, (I had to check). Put on the deck, place all the floor boards and seats back in, fill in all the dings and screw holes with the fairing mixture, paint the outside of the hull and all the other little things like sails and so forth. Oh yeah, and have the name of the boat painted on by Rob Hazard. Sweet.

I would put up new photos, but I forgot to download them at work and bring them home. Until the next post which will be tomorrow.

The Galley Wench

A Tedious Job!

As you may well remember, Schyler had me start a project involving screwheads while we waited for more stripper to arrive. He told me, and I quote, "It's a very tedious job. I appreciate that you THINK you can do it, but it's very, very tedious." Knowing this information, I set forth with my screwdriver in hand and prepared for hours of painstaking work. I was done in one hour, not so bad!

After the fairing job, I began scraping paint off around all the little nooks and crannies near the deck framing. I figured I would at least keep working on removing the paint while we waited for more paint stripper to arrive. Now, this job to me was painfully tedious and beyond frustrating. I'm thinking, you've got to be kidding, there must be an easier way to get around all this framing! In the midst of my cursing, Schyler comes home and inspects my fairing work, and then grabs a screwdriver and begins removing all the deck framing, seat cleats and seat supports. I sat there amazed. He couldn't have done this in the beginning, BEFORE I started all the scraping!!! Once they were all off, he turns to me with that Schyler smile and says "Look honey, this will make it much easier to work on!" I thought I was going to slug him.

All and all, the boat is progressing very well and we have been working on it everyday after work and on weekends. Friends are beginning to stop by and check it out. Pete and RePete visited with beer and munchies. Chris Moore stopped by to see how far we were along with ours. He and his father Jim are working on their Lightning for the Regatta as well. The race is on!

Anyway, we will keep you posted and remember, if you drive by and see us working on the boat, STOP by! We love it! Just remember, if you are holding a Blue in one hand, prepare to have a tool in the other helping us!

Day Four - Paint Stripping

Finally another warm day to start stripping the blue and green paint off the boat. We started with a water based product that ended up leaving a very thick and gooey layer on the bare wood. Impossible to simply scrub away with a scrubbie and warm water which was the intent. What a mess to clean up, so we stopped before going any further. Schyler ordered new stripper and once we get that we'll start the process over. Otherwise it was a learning experience for me since I have never done this before. Just love those mindless tasks...especially when there is a glass of wine waiting for me to enjoy in the sun.

Tonight, Schyler has (wait, I have to call him to find out the correct terminology, whole new language for me here), another project, which is digging out the screw head fairings. I have no idea what I just wrote or what it means. Poor guy, I know he shakes his head while thinking "Oh my God" as I ask these questions, but I am a very willing and eager intern and he knows I will eventually learn all this stuff.

Day Three - Rudder

Today, Schyler worked on the rudder sanding it all the way down to bare wood. There are some dings that will have to be filled in with epoxy and mahogany dust that Schyler has saved over the years. So, there is a method to his madness of things he collects and saves. After all his hard work, Libby, his team mate for the Regatta, came out to supervise the progress. Needless to say she was pleased. I simply take the photos and do the grunt work I am told to do.

Also, please check out the new Cool Links added!

Day Two!

The warm weather has arrived...at least for awhile. Being the case, we wheeled the Lightning out and finished scrapping all the old loose paint off. Keefe joined in until I thought better...isn't that paint full of lead? Probably. He was excused from his duties...gleefully! Anyway, we plan on applying the paint stripper this week and and starting the scrapping process again.