For whatever reasons, some weeks flow better than others. Bravo Team went into our final week of Townshend haul out with the goal to finish the final coats of Seattle Gray on the hull and varnish on the transom and tiller. We also wanted to spend some time working on the oars–getting them repaired and cleaned up for a hard season of use.

Our first hour in the shop we sanded and scuffed surfaces to prepare them for paint and varnish. It was tough work and it was hard to stay focused. We had to dig in with our will and lean in with our hands to scuff all the nooks and crannies of Townshend’s beautiful lapstrake hull.

Other teams worked on the oars– splining new wood onto the blades and faring out the shafts and blocks.

We took some time during snack to check in and recognized that some of us were low energy or dealing with challenges, while others felt on top of their game. We looked around at our crew and considered ways we could jump in and support each other.

Our next phase was a blur of activity with paint being rolled and tipped onto the hull and bow stem. Students had to work around each other to make sure varnish could be applied to the upper part of the transom while others carefully painted the transom below. While some of us worked diligently on our tasks others finished up and asked where they could help next.

The final push was truly a group effort and the result of our hard work is a shiny Townshend- nearly ready for her launch next week.