Still in Seattle

The weather here has been sooo good lately, I was starting to think we had accidentally moved to California. Every day I'd check the weather and it would say sunny and in the 60s or 70s, perfect! Because it's been so nice, we set up our "air conditioner" Which is just a fan pointing inboard on our bow skylight, and a fan pointing outboard in our pilothouse. It actually makes quite a nice little breeze through the boat keeping us cool on all but the hottest days.

This morning we were reminded that yes in fact we do live in Seattle. Jessi woke up and was getting ready to do some triathlon training. "Is it raining?" she asked. Just then a drop of water hit me square in the forehead. Oh crap! I hopped out of bed (so much for sleeping in) and ran out onto the bow to pull in the fan and close up the skylight. Plus I dabbed up all the drips and drops seeping in. What the hell happened to sunny, Mr. Weatherman? I think you need to come down to my boat and dry out my carpet for me...

Anyway, some good did come of all of this. I was discussing with our neighbor Chris how leaky everything was this morning. Especially when the wood in our boats has been dry for the last few weeks and therefore shrunken (is that a word?) up. Nothing seats tightly, so when it sprinkles the water just marches right in. He was telling me he's been using this stuff called Boatlife Life-Calk because it's flexible and rubbery, but can still be sanded and painted. Amazing!! I had been using a fairing epoxy to fill every little crack and crevice that appears as a result of the wood expanding, contracting and moving. Then, the wood would just separate from the epoxy. I was getting very frustrated because cracks I filled last year are back this year. "Yeah, no kidding epoxy doesn't work well for that." Chris told me, "But this stuff seems to work great!" Man, I can't wait to try it out!

Is it weird that I'm excited about caulk?

-Tom