With Easter over and the weather warming a bit, I have been able to - finally - start getting ORION ready for the 2026 sailing season. Fortunately, there is not a lot on the list of tasks this year; a couple of annual maintenance coats of varnish on all the wood and repainting the bootstripe are the most time-consuming. Every three years, besides the annual tasks, I have to replace all the mooring hardware and chain (next scheduled for 2027), and every three years I repaint the bottom with antifouling paint (next scheduled for 2028). This is the “off” year with nothing big planned.
That being said, I made the decision to purchase a new trailer for ORION as her old one is a little more rusted than I would like. I’m hoping to take ORION further afield for some trips, and I would feel much more comfortable hauling her over long distances with something solid and reliable. Tomorrow, with help from my father and father-in-law, I’ll be swapping trailers and fitting ORION to her new one. More on that later.
My son Harry helped me tape off the wooden coaming tops, and I sanded them and put one coat of varnish on. The temperature has dipped a bit, so I may need to wait until later in the week to put the second coat on and begin painting the bootstripe. But at least I am making forward progress to getting her in the water! Potential launch date: April 27th.
