Boat Maintenance

A V10 Sport spans the length of my family room carpet. It appears both bizarrely out of place and curiously at home at the same time. It's winter here in NE, an inch and a half of boilerplate ice has turned my driveway into a skating rink, and the early vestiges of cabin fever are beginning to set in. All eyes are on Punxsatawney Phil next week, fingers crossed that it will be a cloudy day...

It's maintenance time in the Ceconi household, and boat after boat waits its turn to be shouldered in through the garage door to take the spot of another, carefully maneuvered to fit alongside the fireplace-too gosh darned cold in the garage. This current patient, a favor for a friend, is in for a routine 'rudderdectomy' to remove the stock pin, free and lube the shaft, epoxy on a weedguard, and apply 3M clear protective film to the strike zones on the cockpit sills.

Next up is the Westside Boatshop EFT. It's slated for a pullbar addition to the suh-weet carbon footbrace assembly from Pat at Onnopaddles. Taking advantage of its appointment, the doctor on call may recommend some early preventative maintenance by switching out the understern rudder for the overstern, with an eye toward the Run of the Charles Race in April.

Holding the next deli counter number ticket is the fully flamed Huki S1-R. Jude's gelcoat crew are masters of graphics, and the boat literally seems ablaze, living up to its moniker' Ring of Fire,' appropriately named after Johnny Cash's infamous lovers' lament. She's up for some footstrap retooling, and a couple of coats of Marine PTEF wax to keep her vivid hues burning.

The 'chickenboat' Epic 18's ToePilot rudder pedal tracks could use replacement hardware, so that may be the next candidate on the card. Or maybe one of the tandems, for cable checks and the omnipresent application of more coats of UV protection. The list goes on...

There's something awfully satisfying about maintaining your paddlecraft. as there is with any conveyance, be it a boat, bicycle, or Bugatti, disassembling and reassembling parts so they snick together flawlessly, padding out seatwells for a better fit, and retying the %$#@ knots in brand spanking new Spectra line, so the push of a footpedal sends a weed shedding 9" rudder through the full swing of its travel with unerring smoothness.

Yup, it's wintertime, maintenance time, and it helps to make the days go faster till ice out and the first winter thaw. The boats take their places, one by one, waiting patiently with a magazine for their names to be called by the receptionist in the third garage, no HMO required.