Hurricane? Psh......

So I am home from work at the airport early because we had very little freight to move, so I thought I would take the bonus time to give the weekend update, and maybe more topically, my thoughts on FRANKENSTORM!!!!! 

Lets start with the boat.  I spent Sunday with a respirator on, rubber gloves, and scrubbing like mad with a fun chemical concoction to make the mold that covers the ENTIRE interior of the boat go away. Unfortunately, its going to take several more solid days to get the boat's interior clean.  All I got done was the V-berth (so named because of its shape).  Below, you'll see why it took so long....

It was thick and gross, and also really stuck on there!!!!

Starting the cleaning process on the starboard (right) side

As you can see, the paint peeled off the hull in big sheets.

There is still A LOT of cleaning to do, but at least I am making a start on it.  I just have to get it all done before we get freezing weather.  I also need to take a paint scraper with me next time and scrape it before I start cleaning, so that I can easily sweep up the paint chips.  

I also got the boat recovered and the A-frame system reinforced for FRANKENSTORM!!!   The  boat now has a cover that covers her completely, rather than leaving a 2-3 inch gap along the toe-rail.  

As you might notice, my car is absolutely STUFFED with sails and cushions from the boat.  The idea was to get them off the boat to get them dried out, but also so that I could have some space to work in the cabin with out competing with the cushions and sails.  I also had the opportunity to hang them up in my parents barn to let them air out.  While I was hanging them, I got to check them over, and they are in great shape.  One jib (the front sail, also referred to as a head sail) has a small hole in it, but other than that, they look great!  Plus, this will give me an opportunity to learn how to patch the sails, which is an important skill to have.  Here's the new sail loft!

3 jibs, a main sail, and a spinnaker (#213)

I also got the opportunity to take the broken spinnaker pole to my parents house and epoxy it back together.  It is not going to be a great fix, but it is a quick, dirty, short term fix that will at least allow me to use it when I get to that point.  As you can see though, it is still missing a big chunk out of it, which will make that the new weak point.  We will see how long it lasts....

Wrapped with surveyor's string and epoxied into place

Now, on to FRANKENSTORM!!!!!  First off, really??!? Frankenstorm?  But second, I think that there is more hype than there needs to be about this storm.  I understand it is supposed to be a record low pressure system for the eastern seaboard, but so what?  I understand giving people information so they can make informed decisions about preparations for the storm, but it seems like the media, as is par for them, has blown it into a storm of The Day After Tomorrow proportions.  Granted, it is not over by any means, but I just wanted to voice that I think it is ridiculous.