Royal Island - Wax On, Wax Off

Since we aren't leaving until Saturday, today was a "boat project day". Kevin has been wanting to clean up the rust on the stanchions (which are the metal poles that hold up the lifelines around the edge of the boat). When he cleaned up the barbecue grill a few months ago, he used sandpaper and a lot of elbow grease so this time he experimented with a few of the cleaners we have lying around on the boat to see if there was an easier way. I apologize if the rest of this post sounds like an infomercial, but Collinite's No. 850 Metal Wax is a miracle cleaner. The stuff doesn't look like much -- it has the color and consistency of Thousand Island dressing -- but it works. You rub the liquid wax on with a rag and then buff it out and the rust just melts away. I took before and after photos which we'll post when we have internet. I wish this stuff was non-toxic so I could use it on our rusty "stainless steel" silverware. (Four forks for a dollar at Big!Lots! You get what you pay for.) We got most of the metalwork on the port side done and even tackled part of the swim ladder which I thought would never be shiny again. But there is so much metal on this boat that it will take a few days to complete the job since after about 11 am it gets too hot out (and too smoky thanks to our friends the landscapers) to work outside. Plus Kevin is more meticulous than I am so I imagine he will be going back over the parts that I did. (My motto: Perfect is the enemy of good enough. His motto: Anything worth doing is worth doing right, even if you have to redo the parts that your wife did half-assed.)