This week the Girls’ Boat Project jumped into fleet maintenance for our boat, Onward. Onward is the long dory we use for our program. She is coming out for some much needed painting and varnishing as well as a few minor repairs. We are excited for the chance to take care of the boat that we sail!
We started the morning with some get to know you games in the classroom before we headed to the shop. Alicia was here today as a substitute teacher while Kat was stuck in Bellingham in the snow.
Down in the shop, we split into two groups. One group worked on the oars and the other focused on the masts and spars.
The spar group started by downrigging Onward’s masts. This required lots of labeling and head scratching as we tried to remember what all of the different halyards and lines were used for. We feel pretty confident that we got it right! Then we put in a short but concentrated effort to start sanding the main mast so it’s ready for a fresh coat of paint.
The oar team brought the oars up from Onward, who was still at the dock. They then began sanding them so they would be ready for new paint and varnish. We were grateful for the donation of Tyvek suits from Admiral Ship Supply to keep us safe and clean from all the dust we made!
At the end of the day we shared appreciations for our work partners. We were glad for people who were fun to work with, calm and accepting of suggestions, helped us with knots and boat part names, and went with the flow when things got confusing. We hope to be painting next week!
