Longboat love means taking care of the longboat so she will take care of us! When we relaunch her in February, we will be able to take pride in our work and know she has been well maintained for another year of service.

We started the day by introducing a new student and having a discussion of what we love about Bravo Team. Then we headed down to the shop and donned our Tyvek Suits and other protective gear. Thank you to Admiral Ship Supply for donating the suits! The crew split into teams to work on various sanding, scuffing, painting, varnishing and oiling jobs.

Our crew’s focus and productivity was impressive and we were having fun at the same time! The work of maintaining the boat is a coordinated effort and we are thankful to Sonia and Liam for helping us be organized about the tasks.

At the end of the day we celebrated our accomplishments: painting green sole boards, prepping the inside and outside of the boat for paint and oil, oiling the oars and masts, painting the mast tips and varnishing the spars and name boards. Many hands make light work!

To wrap up our day, we reflected on what we improved on and what kinds of things we have to put energy into maintaining in our own lives. Many folks are learning new skills in boat maintenance and noticing improvement from this week to last. In our own lives, some of us want to put energy into eating healthier, doing math homework and keeping an art flow going. Go Bravo Team!