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| A very dirty SV Pilgrim hanging in the slings. |
Thursday - Pilgrim is blocked in the yard. The obvious starting point is to wash 800
miles of road grime and highway salt off the deck & hull. Unfortunately temperature in Beaufort are
predicted to remain below freezing for the next 36 hours.
Friday - Enthusiasm for initiating boat projects pushed me
below decks. With a portable electric
heater in the salon, Pilgrim’s cabin quickly warmed. I used the guise of cleaning to thoroughly examine
the interior finish and systems. Through December and much of January, while
pining for Pilgrim’s arrival in NC, I spent hours combing through the Morgan 38Owners Board. Now aboard Pilgrim, the
abstract conversations on head plumbing, battery location, configuration of the
anchor locker, fuel systems, etc. all
crystallized into actionable projects.
Where to begin?
Saturday –
Anticipating ice choked deck and cockpit drains I arrived at the yard
armed with four quart bottles, a thermos, and one mason jar of hot water in
nestled in a soft sided cooler. By late morning
snow melt from Pilgrim’s cockpit was pooling up atop the drains. Time for action. Like hands across the face of a clock I
rotated from starboard deck drain to starboard cockpit drain to port cockpit
drain, to port deck drain, and around again.
Each lap I poured on another shot of warm water onto and eventually into
the drains. The starboard side deck drain
was the last to clear- likely due to shading. Donning foul weather bibs and
jacket, I set about scrubbing from decks to waterline. The bottom paint, destined to be removed,
simple received a through rinse.
I knew winter in Beaufort, NC would be colder than Everglades
City, FL, but I never anticipated multiple days of freezing temps.
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