I have always thought that Penna was the prettiest boat in the bay. Any bay. With any other boats in it. (I suspect many people feel this way about their own boat -- I hope they do! -- and that doesn't make me wrong.) With all the updates done on this haulout, I'm even more confident now.
Here she is, at the Silva Bay dock.
The astute observer will note that we haven't yet painted the cabin top, and that the sides of the cabin top are not the same shade as the hull. Well done, observer! My limited experience of boats tells me that there is always another haulout -- and we may even get this painting done before the next one. If not, no worries.
Most of the really big changes don't show from this angle. To begin with, there's the tremendous sense of security we feel just walking around on the brand new, very solid deck... and knowing that the sheer strake is new, and the top several planks on each side are new. The standing rigging's odds of remaining standing have increased dramatically. Penna is a safer and healthier boat than she has been for many a year.
I managed to not get a good picture of the wonderful cockpit. Here's the best one I came up with.
It's much more traditional in style now -- deeper, with low benches instead of the lockers we had before, and without the lazarette. This is a profoundly good thing. The air circulation below the cockpit was never great. Now it is wonderful.
And the rather mundane photo below shows one of my favourite new features -- an absolutely oil free bilge! Trevor pumped some water into the boat a couple of days before launch, to let the wood start taking up since we've been out of the water for quite a while. Look closely and you can see the water pumping out in this picture. It's clear! There's nothing like removing a diesel inboard and replacing it with an oar and a new paint job for the bilge to improve emissions.
And here's the obligatory photo of Penna suspended in the travel list. Yikes. This is definitely not my favourite part.
There are a few things to be done, including getting back to our Degnen Bay mooring from Silva Bay and sewing a deck tent, but they are relatively minor.
We will soon return you to your regularly-scheduled catamaran.
