Her Barest Bottom

Yes, Abake has bared all.  But, she's had a little help.  At the end of the week, she had her bottom blasted, taking away many, many layers of paint.  "It was really hard paint," we were told, "and there's a lot of bottom there" we also heard.  But the team from Chesapeake Blasting were professional and couldn't have done a better job.  Now she has the cleanest bottom she's had maybe since she came out of the factory in 1980!

Bottom painted and bottom bared:

And if you want to see what it looked like while it was happening, here is the tented work area with someone inside working (notice the puffy sides) and what one of the blasters wears to do his job.

We were really impressed with these guys -- not only does Abake look great, there was no residue to be found in the marina.  They are definitely one of the preferred subcontractors!

Our next step is to prep the bottom before painting her with a barrier coat, and eventually with ablative paint.  We're on a schedule now, so hopefully good weather will coincide with our schedules.  Extra high tides will be early May and early June, and that's when we'll have to launch Abake.  She draughts too much for any normal day on the creek.