It feels like going down the rapids

My assistant, Prince, had fun with the Karcher, spreading degreaser

I rafted the Owen falls rapids in Uganda three times. That is enough to have you certified. The major rapid is called Silverback, and you have the whole Nile river going through about 30 meters of channel. It looks awesome from the top, and there is really no way to chicken out and walk back. And when you start going down, there is a moment, as the stream begins to take you and the river makes a hump before you, when you wonder if this was a good idea.

The work on Dreamtime is at a similar point. We did a major degreasing today, washing the whole hull about four times, partly because I tripped over the bucket just when we had washed out most of the degreaser, and spilled a whole lot of fresh, expensive degreaser back into the hull, so we had to wash that out again.

And scrubbing the interior. 

Tomorrow morning I have to get up early to collect the compressor and fill it and the jerry can with diesel. The sandblaster and the spray painter will be there around nine, and then we start.

Once sandblasted we have only a few hours grace before we have to have the paint on. Now, the first problem is: Sandblasting should take about three days. Do we interrupt the blasting and paint when half is done, and risk damaging the primer with the next lot of blasting? Do we trust that the rust will give us time?

One power cord. Two hosepipes to drain the water, one to put fresh water in.
Result: one almighty tangle. They say it has to do with string theory.

Pretoria has beautiful sandblasting weather in May. Cold, dry, clear. But we were not ready. In fact we should have been ready last year in May, but things got complicated. Last weekend we had a cold front move through, which brought some moisture. Fog in the mornings, especially the low lying areas. This morning the hull was wet, even under the old swimming pool cover I have over her. So, no possibility of waiting overnight.

And I have only half the paint I ordered. Which should be OK for the first coat, but... It was promised for tomorrow. Insh'Allah.