May is the month in Sweden when all the boats are going back to water. The challenge for Swedish sailors is to get the boat ready by the time the boat club has rented the crane truck. For us, it will be Friday 8 May this year.
The boats are brought aground at the beginning of October, usually in open fields by the shore. In our club, the field is the parking lot for the public beach nearby. During winter months, boats are covered with plastic sheeting to avoid that snow accumulates, transforms in ice, and adds possibly a few hundred kilos to the boat, threatening her balance. As soon as snow is no longer a threat, by early April, we uncover them. In the month leading to the "sjösättning", one need to upgrade the antifouling, put a few layers of varnish here and there, reload batteries, test the engine, remove condensation in the gasoil, check for mould...
The antifouling requires a temperature above 10°C for as long as possible, without rain. This year, I was counting on the long week of the 1st to 3rd of May. It rained Friday and Saturday, but today, the weather was sunny, and the boat field was filled with Sunday painters.
The final touch for the antifouling consists in painting the areas of the hull under the pads holding the boat on the cradle. A potentially risky exercise...
