We really needed to get our 1974 C&C 35-II in to CSR for bottom paint and a few more repairs. Sarah and Dave are my dock-mate "go to" delivery crew and helped me get through the locks to CSR. We waited for the locks to open, hanging off the wall just inside the bridge. Of course there were issues just getting off the dock, a gel in the strainer restricted the water flow till we flushed it out. Anyone know Bittersweet, the boat we saw waiting for the bridge to open? At CSR Simplicity got pressure washed and I pulled the kelp off the prop. We got the mini tour of Pierre's Little Harbor 44, with many new systems - Wow look at that new Yanmar diesel!

Hum, the last bottom paint on Simplicity was July 2018, and with Covid we hadn't been using the boat enough to keep her clean. The PSS Shaft Seal was an old model, that lasted over 15 years. Now they cost more and are only rated for 6 years, so we replaced it with a traditional packing glan with teflon seal. When we hauled the keel was spotted with flaked off layers of paint down to the lead, so the keel needed to be sanded and epoxy faired, before bottom painting. Pulling the shaft meant it was time to replace the cutlass bearing and zincs, ka-ching, ka-ching.

By early September 7th, Simplicity was in the water, re-checking the packing glan the next morning. This time Kathleen joined us for the return delivery to Shilshole. Once out of the locks, another adventure, with a brief wait for the railroad bridge, we motored out into the fog. As the fog cleared, we had a delightful sail, enjoying the 6+ knot speeds in light-air and flat water. We caught up to a few sailboats like the Hunter Alibi, toured Port Madison , and sailed home to Shilshole. Yes, the black cruiser was the San Diego, Black Swan I remember from back in Brookings in 2014. What a sweet day - thanks Sarah, Dave and Kathleen! Now I need to fix that Dutchman reefing line up on the mainsail.

Please enjoy these snapshots - these pics are good therapy for me, and it's a special pleasure sailing on Simplicity again. Thanks all! (Click on any image below for a much larger image "slide show" - arrow keys work well.)
If you see more than four images per row, you will miss out on the frame, date, and time info - just shrink your window size.