De-naming, Naming, and Sole Restoration

This was a big weekend for the Matrix. We received the vinyl decals for the name in the mail, so in preparation to apply them, we did a "de-naming" ceremony. And, I began the process of bringing the floor of the boat (known as the "sole") back to life.

First, the de-naming ceremony. As mentioned in an earlier post, ancient traditions of the sea hold that it is unlucky to change the name of a boat. However, after some research, we found that there is a way to change a boat's name and not incur the wrath of those deities that rule the elements.

According to legend, each and every vessel is recorded by name in the Ledger of the Deep and is known personally to Poseidon, or Neptune, the god of the sea. It is logical therefore, if we wish to change the name of our boat, the first thing we must do is to purge its name from the Ledger of the Deep and from Poseidon’s memory.

Fortunately, the former name of the boat, Avocet, had already been removed from the hull when she was in the boatyard. So all we had to do was the actual ceremony. For this we used an “ingot” (a small metal tag) with AVOCET written on it in water-soluble ink, and a bottle of champagne. We invoked the ruler of the deep as follows:

“Oh mighty and great ruler of the seas and oceans, to whom all ships and we who venture upon your vast domain are required to pay homage, implore you in your graciousness to expunge for all time from your records and recollection the name AVOCET, which has ceased to be an entity in your kingdom. As proof thereof, we submit this ingot bearing her name to be corrupted through your powers and forever be purged from the sea.” (At this point, the prepared metal tag was dropped from the bow of the boat into the sea.)

“In grateful acknowledgment of your munificence and dispensation, we offer these libations to your majesty and your court.” (Now we poured most of the bottle of Champagne into the sea from East to West..and took a few swigs ourselves.)

We were now ready to apply the new name, which was quite a tedious process, since the letters didn't seem to want to separate from the paper. But we got it done, and here is the end result:

And on the other side:

SOLE RESTORATION

Julianne has a beautiful teak-&-holly sole that, unfortunately, was never properly cared for. It appears to never have been sealed, oiled or varnished, and twenty years of hard use left it stained, rough and raw-looking. So I agreed to bring it back to life. Research led me to a product called “Ultimate Sole”, a varnish designed specifically for teak-&-holly soles, that will produce a high-gloss finish, astounding footing (high coefficient of friction), and require minimal maintenance over the years.

The process is quite complex, involving deep-cleaning, de-greasing, stripping, sanding, sealing with two coats of sealant, waterless cleaning, tacking, and finally, applying the varnish. It took me all weekend just to do the prep work (cleaning/stripping/sanding/sealing), and I finally got the first coat on at about 8pm Sunday night. Tonight (Monday) I went down to do the second coat, and I’ll continue to go down there every night for the next few nights to add more coats…I probably have enough varnish for 4 to 5 coats total.

I’ll post before and after pics when I’m done.