perhaps
I'm prone to
noticing
but
for some strange reason-
and it has been reassuring-
that the idea of
"following ones passion"
has been getting some press lately

i've been enjoying
the winter
out doors
with
a respirator,
ear protection
ski goggles
and insulated overalls
working on the boat
removing hundreds of pounds
of anti-fouling paint
with 24 grit on a grinder.
first the build-up of the red chalky stuff
which blows across the snow
like a Santa Fe dust storm.
then a couple of layers of
brass-coloured metallics
and then
into the white
(polyester gel-coat)

it seems that the ubiquitous
white fiberglass boat hull
has issues with water - no kidding-
the stuff absorbs water,
blisters and starts to dissolve.

Luckily,
if you care to grind back through
the toxic layers,
and through the gelcoat
and let the hull dry thoroughly-
who would have thought...

it reminds me of when the old timers
encourage the kids to become
newly-weds...
"come on in,
the water's great!"

Luckily they've come up with
an epoxy barrier coating
that seals the polyester sub-straight (the boat)
and bonds with the anti-fouling
bottom paint


It's like archeology
geomorphology, deconstructionism
and cultural anthropology all in one.
patches of the first layers
of metallic bottom paint
flake off as i begin to grind.
Hmm
what they leave behind is a hand-sanded
layer of gel-coat with a green residue
that looks like algae
Hmm
so, it was in the water
prior to getting that bottom paint?


and
there seems to be two layers of gelcoat.
the outer layer seems to be in fairly good shape
with small voids here-and-there that look like trapped air bubbles
but
grinding through into the second layer reveals
a pock marked surface
so
off comes all of the gelcoat