After all the preparations for Tropical Storm Isaac and after the (mild) storm came and went, it was time to put everything back together on the boat. This meant that we had to dig everything out of the lazaret and v-birth and put the bimini and ising glass back together. Since we had the ising glass off, we realized how dirty and mildewed the wood and cushions were on the bridge. So we spent a morning bleaching and cleaning the bridge area and cushions. After putting up a few of the ising glass/canvas pieces, I realized that there was a lot of mildew on the glass as well. So the next day, Randy and I spent the evening giving our canvas and ising glass some much needed TLC.

We know that our canvas and glass badly need to be replaced, but we need to hold off until next summer to replace it. We were told by several friends that we might be able to extend the life of our canvas by waterproofing it using a product called Starbrite Waterproofing. So I went to West Marine and bought the waterproofing stuff and Randy and I went to work. While Randy applied the waterproofing to our bimini with a roller, I cleaned and polished the worn out ising glass with Brillanize Plastic Cleaner. Our ising glass is still cloudy and needs to be replaced, but cleaning and polishing it definitely made it look a lot better for now. We’re hoping that the waterproofing product will keep our bridge a little drier and therefore cleaner and mildew-free.

So, a little bit of elbow grease went a long way for getting our bridge clean and canvas waterproofed and just in time for our Labor Day weekend outing at Cayo Costa. We have a fun- and sun-filled weekend planned along with a boat denaming and renaming ceremony (perfect happy hour activity) for both Island Time and Blue Turtle. Stay tuned!