Arriving just days after the Antiguan varnish team had, gave Ben a perfect opportunity to step away from day to day maintenance, and to focus on logistics and scheduling for the Dorade. His refocusing left me as the boats supervisor, managing the varnish work, and to make sure that everything went on smoothly. The varnishing proved to be a large task, and had the Antiguans and ourselves working long hours, yet the hard work paid off, as is evident in this and last week’s photos. The long jobs list has continued to keep us busy since the varnish has been done though.
As soon as we had finished with the bright work we have had a big push on to get the boat ready for this coming weeks training session in the San Pedro area, with the full Transpac crew (besides Hannah). As Ben mentioned last week we have been having a new alternator regulator installed, which has proven to be a larger task than not, and is being finished today. The boat was also pulled out on Tuesday (a day later than hoped due to Memorial day) in order to have the undersides of the boat painted, with paint fortified with Carbon Fiber, in order to create an optimal underside for the Transpac. When we pulled the boat we also found that the port rudder flap had come off, causing a need for repair. Another piece that has come together is the refitting of the butterfly hatch lock downs, which had wood rot under them. They have since been drilled out, and refitted perfectly. These jobs were on top of getting the boat back into sailing order, as it had been almost completely stripped for the varnish work. Everything is coming along well though, and our departure tomorrow morning should go off without a hitch!
My time in San Diego has not been all work though, while here I have been able to see a few of the sites, and to enjoy a bit of the sailing that San Diego has to offer. I have been fortunate enough to have been invited to sail with Dennis Connor on his Splendor for a regatta held over the Memorial Day weekend. This along with making friends at the San Diego Yacht Club, and a few trips up to Sunset Cliffs and Ocean Beach have led me to truly enjoy not only my work aboard the Dorade but also the Point Loma area. I am very grateful for the sailing community in both San Diego this summer and Newport last, as it has helped me to become a better sailor, and the experiences I have in these towns will hopefully help me to find myself as a part of the full time race crew on the Dorade.
Max Lewis