Following the very successful completion of her summer educational programs, the schooner Sultana headed to Georgetown Yacht Basin earlier this week for her annual maintenance haul out. After a full decade of sailing, during which Sultana has traveled more than 35,000 miles and sailed with over 50,000 students, the hardest working schooner on the Chesapeake is more than deserving of some TLC.
The big project for this August will be to completely strip all of Sultana’s topside paint down to the bare wooden planks. Work on stripping Sultana’s hull began on August 4th and should continue through the end of the week. This removal of Sultana’s topside paint is being overseen by John Swain and the team from Swain Boatbuilders. Sultana is being stripped using an environmentally sensitive, spray-on paint stripper.
If all goes according to plan, the entire boat should be able to be stripped in the course of two days without the use of a single piece of sand paper or a scraper. Once the paint has been removed, the hull will be inspected and repainted. By the time Sultana returns to Chestertown in late August, she should look almost brand new!
Cora says
Too bad the Sultana always does maintenance during Rock Hall Pirates Weekend. It would be great to have her as part of the festivities.