Non-skid

I finally painted non-skid on the decks today. I used a single part and mixed the sand directly into it. It turned out okay, but since the sand is relatively heavy, it tends to sink down quickly and thin out.

Sprinkling with a salt shaker would have been better, but that would have required a second coat to seal it -- not an easy thing to do while living on the boat with a dog. However, it should be good enough for this trip; I plan to strip it off once I get her out of the water anyway, so I didn't want to spend too much time on it.

I setup the second reef point last night, and plan to re-caulk the chainplates later today or tomorrow. We can't leave till at least early next week, so I'll continue to work on her while we wait, but I'm starting to run out of stuff I can do while she's still in the water. I'll probably just work on cleaning up the cabin and stowing gear, while keeping an eye on the weather.

Trip watch:

I've been planning the trip and setting up waypoints. If we leave from Daulphin Island, 50nm west of here, and stay south of the rigs, the distance to Galveston is right at 500nm. That's about 100nm longer than the more direct route, but that would mean dodging rigs, some possibly unlit, all by myself with neither radar nor moonlight. At roughly 100nm per day, it's just one more day, so I don't think the time will be a big deal as long as the weather holds. It'll sure make make it an easier and more relaxing trip.

The forecast calls for strong winds through the weekend, so we'll hunker down until at least Monday or Tuesday, then get fuel and water on the way over to Daulphin Island. Leaving from there makes it a little shorter trip, so we're planning to anchor for the night and get an early start the following day.