Small work still at the aft end

This past weekend was a weekend for getting work in the aft cabin finished.  Unfortunately, Jenny had serious back problems occur on Friday, so Mike was alone in getting some of the work finished (while he doubled as a nursemaid).  He needed help putting new cleats on (we'll finish that later), but was able to re-seat the hardware for the dinghy davits and the radar post.  He also had two more scarf joints above the aft cabin to clean up and caulk, cleaned the mildew off of the headliners in the aft cabin, painted the cabinet below the nav station, and applied a couple of coats of Semco to the boom gallows he had prepped over the winter (cleaned and sanded) and put them back in place.  Abake is starting to look good from the aft end!

Re-seating the stern rail

It was a busy (and fun!) weekend with family doings, so we didn't get a lot done.  We did, however, remove all the screws (washers and nuts) in order to re-seat the stern rail.  Now it is solid and hopefully not leaking.  Since it rained today (Monday) and may rain during the week, we'll be testing it.  It wasn't a very interesting visual task, so we have not added pictures here. 

This will almost complete our goal of finishing everything that affects the aft cabin.  We are waiting for new cleats to arrive so we can install them on the aft cap rail.  Then the headliners can be re-placed and the aft cabin taken out of workshop mode and made back into livable sleeping quarters.

Launch

Over the past week, final preparations were made for Abake's launch date on Friday, June 8.  The
waxing/polishing team was out there again (thanx millions D/S!), giving her a second coat and
making her shiny.  She was put in the sling (on the TravelLift) so the blocks she was resting on
could be moved in order to barrier coat and bottom paint the bare spots on the bottom of the keel. 
The through-hulls were electrically bonded, and loose articles were stowed for a ride from her home
on the hard to her new home in our slip.

She was denamed Abake (Swedish name meaning "large and cumbersome") and renamed (and
christened) Abake (a West African name meaning "child to be cherished").  We liked the name, but
not the meaning, so this way we can still pronounce her name ah-bah'-kee.

Launch went well (only had to snug down one seacock) and getting into the slip was surprisingly
easier than we had anticipated.  Winds were light and she steered well.  She even backed up!
Getting used to the wheel may be a little easier than we thought.  After attending Mike's daughter's
graduation on Saturday (Congrats!), we worked on Abake today (Sunday) and applied one coat of
paint in two of the cubby holes, the hanging locker, and behind the drawers, all in the aft cabin, as
well as in the electrical "closet" next to the nav station.  Oh, and after arriving at the slip, we
managed to figure out how to calibrate the depth finder.  Thank goodness for high Spring tides!

She looks good in her slip and the cabin is much cooler inside now, sitting on the cool water of the
Chesapeake Bay.  It's her first taste of Bay water, so we're hoping she enjoys it.  She fills the slip
more than Namida did, so we'll need to add some cleats and a couple of hawse pipes to better
secure her in the slip.  But, you be the judge:

Life Happens ... and Gets Away From You

How do you just lose 6 weeks?  Well, we didn't "lose" it, we burned through it.  We used it for family vacations, funerals, friends weddings, and yes, we worked on the boat.  After painting the bottom, we painted the boot stripe.  Then we went to work on the interior, trying to get her ready for the water.  The formica on the sink was cut and laid and the new faucet installed, both heads had their hoses replaced and re-routed, hooked up the wiring for the new depth-finder and speedometer, installed a large Dynaplate, and completed many other miscellaneous tasks.  And finally, the engine was tested and fired up beautifully!  We now know for certain that there are no exhaust leaks.

And now, she's being cleaned and waxed.  We convinced Dirk and Sylvie from Lison Life to change their route to come up the Chesapeake Bay (en route to the Great Lakes) and then recruited them for some manual labor!  They graciously lent a hand (and lots of elbow grease) and made Abake look as beautiful as she does right now.

Stay tuned ... launch is coming up before you (and WE) know it!