Lowest point...........hopefully!

It’s one o’clock in the morning and I was woken by the thunder, unable to get back to sleep and I’m thinking that yesterday, wednesday 2nd of may, was surely, hopefully, the lowest point of the project for us.

After working like dogs to get the boat sanded and ready for the first top coat, then brushing and finally rolling the navy blue gloss paint over the entire hull, we stood back and watched the heavens open, yet again, and ruin our days work.

From out of a clear blue sky, it somehow delivered not only rain but thunder and lightning.

It also found a leak somewhere in the cabin top which has invaded our living space as well.

Anna and I curled up on the couch in the main salon with a bucket on the floor to catch the drips and I had the realisation that I just don’t have a contingency plan for what is happening.

Plan A was to get the boat painted and in the water in 10 days. Hard work, but should have been achievable. We have done similar many times before.

Plan B, was to extend it to two weeks, then in the water and go cruising.

We are on to plan C, and I don’t know what it is!

How long can it take to get this boat ready to put back in the water?

The answer to that question is, that it could take the whole eight weeks of our holiday, if the blasted weather remains as dreadful as it has been.

The prospect of spending all of the eight weeks of our holidays doing this is really weighing heavily on my mind.

In reality, there is probably one weeks solid work left to do before we are ready for re-launching, but we need at least four or five days of fine weather to get the painting done and so far, that just hasn’t happened.

Who would have guessed that Holland would have one of the worst springs people can remember? When I was here last year it was sunny, day after day.

Well, that’s the moan over with.

I can’t change what is happening with the weather, I can only adapt to suit it.

We have to allow the rain damaged top coat to dry before sanding it really hard to get all the rain crinkles off and wait for a fine day to put another coat on. 

Then it will need one more final coat and that is the hull finished.

The decks and cabin top are in worse condition than when I left the boat last year and I have made many repairs to rust spots which are waiting for paint. 

I was hoping to just do localised touch ups, but the reality is that the whole thing needs re-painting.

I am going to ask Hans to help with this, otherwise I really will be spending the whole of our holiday sanding and painting.

He is a professional painter and I will pay him for his time. 

Unfortunately he does not have any influence over the weather, so it may well take him several weeks.

I have pretty much had enough of living in this boatyard in the rain, so I’m tempted to leave it to Hans, get in the car and drive to France for a change of scenery.

This is probably taking it’s toll on Anna as well because we are both putting so much effort into the preparation of this boat, getting to the end of most days exhausted and just not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. She also has to cope with my frustrations when the weather continually thwarts all our hard work. 

I don’t want to quit, but I have to draw the line somewhere and recognise when we have crossed over it.

If this project is too big for the two of us, within the constraints of time and weather, then I need to call in some help before it is too late and we end up regretting spending too long at the boatyard without any opportunity to use the boat in the canals.

Last night we met another NZ couple, Max and Lucy from St Helliers, Auckland who have just arrived to take over their boat.

It is like brand new, with sawdust still in the cupboards, it was a demonstrator boat for a boatbuilding company here.

They bought it through Jitse Doeve, the same broker we bought our boat through, so that is quite an amazing coincidence.
Our boat however, needs so much work doing to bring it up to standard because of it's age, but their boat is beautifully ready to go.
Am I jealous?
Not really, because we are feeling a very strong sense of involvement and fulfillment with our boat and will definitely leave this country with a deep understanding of the people and the culture having worked side by side with them.

Every project has the potential to run into problems and the way around them is to focus on the solutions, not the problems.

So, onwards, with a solution focus.

Let’s get this thing rolling again.

I’m heading back to bed to get some more sleep and after sanding the new paint off, I will get the boat moved into the storage shed where we can paint without the rain.

It does cost $40 a day more and we have to move into a local hotel because you can’t stay aboard after 10 pm when the close the doors, but at this moment we have no choice.

We must get the boat painted and whatever it takes will be done.