GO WES(S)T!?

After our wedding in June 2013, we happen to spend our honeymoon again in Northern Germany: Two weeks in Hamburg and Helgoland, after that a week on our boat in Varel. Most of the time we are lazy and enjoy our honeymoon, just occasionally Jaqueline can’t keep me from working a little on the boat. Then Jaqueline has to go back to Vienna to her job, and I stay for another ten days to repaint the bottom of the hull.

still with the old paint

After three days, my brother Matti and my father join me, and together we start to remove the hull paint. It’s a really dirty job, we have to work in not very comfortable positions, and even our small boat seems to be a huge cruise liner in this regard. Each day, we enjoy every second of the 15-minute-shower, and clean at first us and then the bathroom. A few days later, we know every square centimeter of our hull, but the old paint is now completely removed. As a next step, we apply a primer and then antifouling to the hull.

grinding the bottom of the hull

Matti working hard

a dirty job

finally, the bare steel!

Primer

we also renew the blue coating

taking a break

Antifouling

We spend the rest of the week working on the interior, planning the electric system and waterproofing the deck. Then Matti and my father have to go back to Vienna, and I prepare everything for putting the boat back into the water. I work two days alone, then my brother Ma and his girlfriend join me to help a little and then spend their holidays on our boat. A berth at the WSV Varel is organized, the new name SAILOR MOON written on the hull, and the boat is splashed back into the water. Everything works fine, the new seacocks are tight, the engine runs like a charm and we sail through the channel to our berth. Immediately afterwards I go back to Vienna because I have to be back at the university starting from August.

new name …

… SAILOR MOON!

back in the water

During the summer, the first few entries are added to our newly bought guestbook, since after Ma and Vicky my parents and then Schmalzi and his girlfriend Resa spend a couple of weeks on the boat. Mid of October, I once again convince Ma to go to Varel with me to prepare the boat for the winter season. We remove the batteries and chargers, winterize the engine, cover the boat with a plastic canvas, and additionally shop some weird fitness devices for my youngest brother Martin.

We hope that prepared like that, SAILOR MOON will survive her first winter in the water without any scratch, because Jaqueline and me do not plan to return until the spring of 2014.