I finally got the call yesterday evening. The fleet manager of my yacht club called to confirm a Friday morning launch. It comes a week after my intended launch date of May 15th, but that was only partially due to my own unpreparedness. Fugu is buried 4 boats deep in the storage yard. And the big powerboat in front of me still has his winter shrink-wrap on. The yacht club has a "one week rule". If a boat behind you is ready to launch, the club gives you one week to get ready or goes ahead and moves you, but charges you. So, after I got Fugu all shined up and her bottom painted, I notified the club and they in turn notified all the boats in front of me. No idea if the powerboat is ready, but that is not my concern. I am ready to launch.
I wound up scraping the rudder down to bare gel-coat, sanding, filling and fairing. After 5 coats of Interprotect and 3 of VC-17, she looks pretty good. Also, it's been years since Fugu's had a good scrub of her topsides. So I washed the hull, then did an aggressive compound (Meguiar's Power Cut compound), followed by a polish (Meguiar's Color Max) and finally a wax (Meguiar's Carnauba Wax #56). For those keeping track, that's 3 trips around the boat on a scaffold and countless shoulder presses of an admittedly light polisher. The hull was painted with Awlgrip in 1993, but several people have told me the paint is "finished", and at 22 years old, that paint job doesn't owe me anything. So I don't feel bad about using the heavy compound and wax finishes on it. Next year, I may try a lighter compound/polish to see if I can make a few more of the swirls disappear, but this made a huge difference in her topsides.
I have to say that she really sines now. Like she's never shone before. Fugu, you will be the prettiest girl at the ball. You deserve it.
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