EXPERIMENT SUCCESS

DAY ONE:

Monday -- We cleaned, cleaned, cleaned and rinsed the rails. Then hit it with teak brightener and rinsed some more.

DAY TWO:

Tuesday -- The weather forecast was rain, rain, rain. We discussed the impending rain over the sound of palm sanders at the boat next to us. Duh. We hopped up and got in a good hour and a half of work before it started pouring. Might as well get used to the weather controlling our lives.

We used the rain as an excuse to hose down the boat one more time, just before welcoming our friend, John, who came for a sleepover: our first overnight guest!

DAY THREE:

Wednesday -- We topped off all the rinsing with a round of hand sanding with either 150- or 120-grit, depending on how bad the particular spot was -- all with the help of John -- future guests, take note.

Then we taped and started coating with the magical Flood. One coat (above), then two coats (below) then a third coat on the outside, vertical piece.

See in the photos, the red, red board on the left? That's teak treated with the dreaded Cetol. I can't wait to strip and refinish those cockpit combings.

So how do you top off eight straight hours of sanding and painting? How about a six-hour drive home? Whew.