Varnishing and Sanding

“Cruising is just boat work in exotic ports,” so said one of the fellow cruisers to us today as we fettled Croix des Gardes. We got an engineer to take away the offending gearbox with its chewed bearings and we’re awaiting a reconditioned unit. Meanwhile, we’ve a few days engineless here in Coinjock to relax and take in the scenery. The weather is now balmy so we’ve taken the opportunity to slap some makeup on the old girl and touch up the varnish.

Never too young to learn to sand and varnish

After a few hours’ sanding, the marina’s seafood restaurant was beckoning. It was superb and attracted patrons from as far afield as the next state. The children had a wonderful day, helping us sand, then playing shoreside with the resident dogs until it became too dark to see. By evening, a handful of other yachts had joined us an each had a tale of cruising to tell. Everyone has been admiring Croix des Gardes and are stunned when they hear that we draw two feet more than anyone else and still made it up the waterway. In fact, we barely fit above the water either. We have had to negotiate several fixed bridges, most built to a 65ft air draft. However, one was built to 64ft and James was sure we’d ping the VHF aerial as we passed. In the event, the water level was a foot low so we passed comfortably, but then also had a foot less water to navigate.

Croix des Gardes looks rather more splendid again now, even with just a single coat of varnish on, as it has returned the teak to a rich golden brown. James has even agreed to let me do the cockpit surround tomorrow. She will still need many hours serious work over the next winter to truly make the varnish glow, but for now three coats should last out the season.