Stormageddon

Here in Central NH, we managed to escape the worst of the storm.  Except for the power going out for 12 hours and a few trees going down on the property it wasn't eventful (thankfully).  The boat and shed were untouched and everything stayed nice and dry inside (albeit a bit damp).

I've had a ton of actual work and house projects going on this month so I haven't done much on the boat.  With any luck I'll have some time this month to get the toerail project started and finish dismantling the pedestal.

KiwiGrip Part 3

The weather has been miserable the past week with cold, raw, rainy days that are just not conducive to painting with something as humidity sensitive as KiwiGrip.  Over the course of a few days I picked away at taping the starboard side deck and getting it ready to paint should a nice day come along.  This time of year tends to be sketchy in Central NH; about the one thing you can be sure of is that you won't have too many warm sunny days.

Fortunately today we had one and the temps got up into the low 70's.  The humidity is still pretty high (65%), but I figured that this may be one of my last opportunities this season.  So I spent an hour or so sanding and wiping everything down and was able to crack open my 2nd gallon of KiwiGrip at around 3PM today.  By 4:15 I was done and was pulling the tape.  

I turned on the fan and plan on running it all night to hopefully get some of the moisture out of the tent (although it will probably be fairly damp tonight from the dew).  I'm hoping for the best and with any luck I can avoid spending some quality time with my wife's hair dryer tomorrow.

I'll post some better pictures when it all dries up but here are a few shots of today's work:

The paint darkens up a little bit over the course of a week or so, it is lighter when wet (left side).

KiwiGrip Part Deux

I spent the better part of 4 hours taping and sanding the port fore deck and side decks to get ready for KiwiGrip round 2 today.  The taping took way longer than I thought, but I just didn't realize how long it would take to get all the deck fittings templated and radiused with tape.  The starboard side will be slightly quicker because I cut out cardboard templates to help trace the outlines of the fittings, but it still just takes time.  

Anyway, everything went according to plan today; I took a few hours off at lunch today once the temperature got to 60 and was able to paint the entire port foredeck and sidedeck in a little over an hour.  Once I pulled off the tape and managed to almost slip and fall onto the newly painted surface, I opened up all the doors and gable windows, turned a big fan on the deck (per KiwiGrip's recommendation to help remove the moisture) and went back to my real job.  After seeing how long the last batch took to dry, I was worried that the fan would suck in a bunch of leaves and mess everything up.  When I got home 4 hours later, I was ecstatic to find that the KiwiGrip had dried and was nice and hard.  Even better, there wasn't a single leaf or bug stuck in the paint.  

I have to order another gallon tomorrow and hope to get more done this weekend depending on the weather.  I'm pushing the weather window now so I have to jump on every warm, dry day and get things done.

KiwiGrip'n

This weekend was an emotional roller coaster, I was that crazy bi-polar guy you see on the street who just stopped taking his meds.  I had been waiting all week for the Interlux Perfection to get a good solid cure before starting in on the KiwiGrip so when Friday rolled around and I was officially in the safe zone for taping, I raced home from work to get started.  I rolled out some KiwiGrip on a test panel on my back deck and it looked like it was going to be a breeze to do this thing.  The conditions were perfect (dry and 75 degrees) and no really cold temps. for the entire weekend.

However, as with everything on these projects, the prep work takes all the time (except for drying).  I spent about an hour laying out, taping and cutting radius's in the painters tape on the forward cabin top (about 7' x 5').  Then I spent another hours or so carefully sanding all the edges (120 grit) where the Interlux Perfection 'bled' into the area for the KiwiGrip.

Finally I was ready.  I was a bit nervous because I had never used KiwiGrip before so I called my wife over to the shed to help me with any issues that may come up while I was covered in paint.  I opened up the KiwiGrip, plopped a few healthy dollops around the first area and spread it evenly with a 3/16" notched spreader.  Once I had covered a 2'x4' area I grabbed the 3" (or maybe it's 4") loopy goopy roller supplied with the KiwiGrip and started rolling it out.  It's actually fun to do, and quickly learned that you need to do sort of a random pattern in all directions that will give you a really even 'spackle-y' texture.  I moved forward and repeated the dolloping, spreading, and loopy-goopying.  There wasn't any problem blending in from the previous section (although if you were exposed in the hot sun, I could see this being an issue if you don't work fast).

My wife pulled up the tape as I moved forward as recommended (pull tape before it sets up) and everything was shaping up nicely.  After about 15 minutes the whole forward section of the cabin top was done and with the tape pulled off, it was literally stunning.  Sweet Buttery Christ, it looked awesome.  It looked way better than I expected.  The only thing to watch out for is the roller does throw small spatters in the direction your rolling.  It's easy to wipe it up on a shiny surface, but if your doing it next to something that might stain, make sure to cover it up.

After gazing longingly at how my boat was actually really starting to look like a boat again, I took some pictures and called it a day.  The next morning I got up bright and early to get started on the next section and found the same great looking deck, but it was still wet! Not a little tacky, but just completely wet like I had just applied it.  WTF!!!!  I let it sit for the day not worrying too much because I had a bunch of family stuff to do and figured it just took longer to cure because it had gotten down to the low fifties the night before.

This morning (Sunday) I got up early again hoping I could get some more of the deck done and hoping that I would find the forward cabin top dry... Nope, still wet.  Dammit!!!  A little hard around the edges but nothing that would pass for even remotely dry.  Now I was worried; crushed in fact.  What had I done?  This was by far the simplest part of the restoration so far.  How could I possibly screw up a 1 part paint when I have been through 20 + gallons of epoxy mixing, super nasty 2 part paints that take years off my life (even with a full respirator), and my neighbors wondering if that white bow shed was a meth lab in disguise. I just couldn't figure out what the problem was other than I got a bad batch of KiwiGrip.  I hadn't read or heard of any quality issues with the product, but shit happens.

I decided to send an email to Jamestown Distributors and to KiwiGrip asking for help.  I was pretty dejected knowing that my weather window for the season was slipping away and I was sure this would take some time to sort out.  So I gave hope for getting anything more done this weekend and hoped someone would get back to me next week.

The dorade vent will have a mahogany cover.

To say I was surprised that I got a response from Willy Stiggelbout about 2 hours later is an understatement.  For better or worse, I have grown accustomed to having to wait several days to get service on a product that I ordered online, so I was pretty blown away when I got a response from Willy on a Sunday.  He asked for my number so he could give me a call and get things straightened out.  He called a few hours later and sent me a temp/humidity/time matrix to help explain things.  He thought that even though it was a dry weekend humidity-wise, it was probably pretty humid in my boat shed (especially with a dirt floor).  He told me not to worry, but to try and get some outside air moving through the shed and putting a heater on board to dry things up.  He said that he would call me back in a week or so to make sure everything worked out as well.

I know there was a time when this was what you expected for service, but I haven't seen it in years.  Willy and KiwiGrip deserve many thanks for taking the time to help me out and talk me off the ledge.

As soon as I got off the phone with him, I stole my wife's hair dryer, grabbed a fan and headed back over to the boat shed.  I opened up the gable ends and ran the fan to get air moving, and I fired up the hair dryer (with diffuser) and ran it over the KiwiGrip.  Sure enough, within 10 minutes of starting the hair dryer, it all started to tack up.  I left the fan running to keep the air moving and called it a night, confident that things would turn out well.

Thoughts on Interlux Perfection

After re-reading my post I realized I didn't go into too much detail about using Perfection so I thought I'd elaborate while I wait to move on to KiwiGrip.  First of all, the disclaimer: I am not a painter and I've never used a 2 part paint before (except for the primer). My painting experience is limited to latex or oil on the sides of houses and I've dabbled with Interlux Brightsides polyurethane on past boat projects.  So, it's pretty clear that I am an expert and you should take everything you read on the interweb as gospel!  Now for the expert review:

After working with the 2 part primer (Interlux Primekote), I wasn't expecting to get great results with Perfection because the primer just didn't level well even when thinned to the maximum 25%.  Every coat I did resulted in lots of stipple marks and needed a good sanding to level it after it cured.  Also, mixing the primer was a bear; the paint (big can) in its raw form is like peanut butter and mixing it to the right 3:1 ratio was a messy affair.  Maybe most primers are like that and it didn't impact the quality once mixed, but it was just an added chore (to the large list of chores).

So when I mixed up my first batch of Perfection, it was sooo much easier; both the paint and the catalyst flowed nicely out of the can (I didn't need to scoop it with a stick), and the 2:1 ratio made measuring easy (I'm actually not math challenged, but the marks on my graduated containers make doubling ratios a snap).  Once the paint is mixed, it's similar to the primer where you wait for 20 minutes, so it gives you time to wipe down the area your about to paint with 2333N Brushing Reducer.

I had read that white toned Perfection paints could be rolled and not tipped if thinned to the maximum 10% 2333N Brushing Reducer.  I am terrible at tipping out paint (I either drag too much or too little, leaving a very bad looking surface), so I decided that whatever the result, this was the way to go, at least it would be consistent (unlike my tipping technique).  I think that the lower temperatures (low 60's) also helped improve the leveling because it allowed the paint to stay uncured for a longer period, allowing it to level more before hardening up.  This is just speculation on my part, but I noticed that the third coat didn't level quite as well as the second and I suspect it was because the temps were in the low 80's and caused the paint to harden quicker.  I'm sure someone who knows about these things would have some things to say.

For the cabin top sides I used a 6" foam mini hot dog roller and the deck perimeter a 4" mini hot dog.  You can buy six packs of them at Lowes or Home Depot. They work great and leave a very smooth finish.

I knew that the first coat would be an experiment and would give me good practice for subsequent coats. Almost immediately I found that rolling out a thin film seemed to level better than a thicker coat.  They tell you this in the product literature, but I guess I didn't really get it until I saw it in action.  Also, a thinner coat on a vertical surface reduces the possibility of sags or runs.  Once the first coat cured, it had some technique imperfections that needed to be sanded out (you could see how my technique improved over the course of the first coat), but the gloss just blew me away.

I sanded in between the three coats with 320 grit paper, but I learned after I finished the third coat that if you recoat within 24 hours of painting you don't need to sand in between.  The 320 grit sanding wasn't really a chore though; it only took about 30 minutes to sand the whole thing down and since my technique for the first coat wasn't the best, I think it only helped.

I'm really happy this is done and am really impressed with the paint.  I purchased the half gallon kit (64oz) and used 52 oz.  I'll probably need to get another quart to finish the cockpit when the time comes. The only knock I would give it would be the product literature on the Interlux site is a bit hard to find and wasn't that clear to me.  However, the yachtpaint forum (http://www.yachtpaintforum.com/) is a great resource for all things Interlux.  Interlux manages the forum and has technicians monitoring for incoming questions.  All my questions were answered quickly and completely.  I felt like it more than made up for the somewhat obtuse literature.

The Waiting Game

I finished the third and final coat of Interlux Perfection this afternoon and I'm pretty pleased with how things turned out.  I decided to keep the final coat high gloss because the KiwiGrip will be a non-gloss finish, and I just really liked that shiny look on the cabin top sides.  Of course I still have the whole cockpit to contend with but I'll take whatever victory I can.  Now I need 72 hours of cure time on the cabin top and decks before I can start on the KiwiGrip.  I really want to just plow through the KiwiGrip, but I don't want to risk pulling up the pretty shiny paint when taping for the non-skid.

I think I still have enough time left in the season to get all the KiwiGrip completed before the weather turns too cold, but we'll see.  If I have time this week, I'll get the 2 lazarette hatches and the companionway hatch sanded, primed, and ready for the first coat of Perfection while I wait.

Woohoo! Paint Time

I'm only painting the permiter and cabin top.  I don't see the point in wasting expensive paint on the middle parts that are going to be covered with KiwiGrip.

It's been a long time coming, but I've finally gotten to the paint stage (mostly).  The cockpit is another story that I'll work on over the coming months, but I decided it was time to get the decks officially done.  So over the weekend I managed to get 2 coats of Interlux Perfection on the deck perimeter and the cabin top.  It's not perfect by any stretch, but it's time to finish dammit!

The paint itself wasn't too difficult, but the prep seemed to take forever.  I spent 2.5 hours sanding everything with 220 grit and then another hour wiping everything down with the 2333N Brushing Reducer.  Once everything was ready, I mixed up 18 oz of paint (12oz paint and 6oz catalyst), let it sit for 20 minutes and then added 10% Brushing reducer.  I've heard that by thinning to the full 10% you can get away with rolling and not tipping (I just suck at tipping, it never, ever turns out well).  The idea is that with the paint thin enough, it will flow out well, leaving a smooth finish.  I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

After 2 days, everything had fully cured and I was amazed at how hard the finish was.  It just has a different feel than the primer or even the epoxy for that matter.  Anyway, good stuff.  For the second coat, I sanded everything with 320 grit and repeated the process; long and tedious, but it looked even better because it fully covered any underlying color that still showed through the primer.

I hope to do a final coat this week, but I'll be adding a flattening agent to cut down on the gloss (and it will help hide some of the imperfections that are really obvious with the high gloss).  I haven't decided to flatten to semi-gloss or to satin yet, but the ratio is 1:1 and 2:1 flattener to paint respectively.

In other news, I finally finished up the dinghy project (mostly) and got my son out on a local pond for a sail (here).

Isaac, you foiled my plans!

After spending Labor Day weekend out on a lake in the Adirondacks and getting no work done on the boat, I decided to take an extra day off work yesterday with the hope of getting the first coat of Perfection on the sides of the cabin top and deck perimeter.  When I say perimeter, I mean the sides of the deck along the bulwark and cabin top, as well as any other areas that won't be covered by the non-skid (KiwiGrip).  Applying Perfection to areas that will be covered would just be a waste of money.  I think that the 3-4 coats of epoxy primer on the entire deck will be ample protection should the KiwiGrip fail.

Unfortunately, the remnants of Hurricane Isaac decided that he would come visit and bring lots of rain and humidity so I decided that it would be best to hold off until drier conditions.  It's not that it was raining in the boatshed, but I've heard that some paints can be a bit finicky when applied in very humid conditions and I don't want to risk putting down a bad coat.

I moved ahead with paint preparations anyway, and drilled pilot holes for all the deck hardware (except for the hatches on the cabin top and aft deck.  I used the holes on the underside of the deck as a template and drilled up with a 3/64" bit.  It was sort of ironic that I spent all this time patching holes in the decks only to make new ones as soon as I was finished.  In any event, it needed to be done so I could use the holes as a guide for where to apply the Perfection.  No pictures, but it wasn't much to see anyway.

With that done, I switched from the paint front to building a platform at the back of the boatshed to make it easier to board the boat.  With the exception of painting, most of my remaining work will be in the cockpit/cabin/engine area and making it easier to get on board without having to crawl down the sidedecks will go a long way in keeping things clean.  I built it about 5 feet up so it's an easy step onto the boat once I'm on the platform.  I also built an ugly, but functional  wide ladder and screwed it right to the platform.

More Unpleasantness

Mmmm, rusty!

Things have been pretty busy over the past week; the kids are back in school and I promised them that I would have the sailing dinghy finished up before it was too cold so I've been picking away at that (post coming soon).  I did however manage to wedge myself below the cockpit and start the fun job of removing the pedestal steering column from the deck.  I think I mentioned in the last post that I had decided to keep the wheel steering to appease the family but I still needed to take it off so I could replace the cables and chain and give me the room I'll need to replace the cockpit sole with new wood (TBD).

So all I have are a few pictures of the tight spaces that I am working in now to get at the steering.  The photos really don't do it justice; it sucks much worse than it looks.  Sometimes I just don't fit, and I have to spend a few minutes trying to figure out the best approach to get at a nut.  I may have to capture my 12 year old son and stuff him into the lazarette with a wrench and a few sandwiches and just have him unbolt anything he sees in there.

On a brighter note, early next week I am going to tap out most of the deck fitting holes and get the first coat of finish paint (Interlux Perfection) on.  Also, the KiwiGrip arrived and I'm pretty excited to get moving on that once I have the Perfection done (still a few weeks out on that).

Ewwww!!!!

So I've finally come to terms with my cockpit/steering plan, it ended up being a bit of a compromise.  I had originally planned on removing the wheel and going back to tiller steering.  Unfortunately, this would require removing the rudder, having a new longer shaft fabricated and rebuilding the rudder.  No small task, and the cost in both time and actual dollars (rudder stock is not cheap) would be large.  I was prepared to do it, but when I told my family they were not happy.  They like the wheel and the convenience it offers.  I am smart enough to know what battles to wage, and this was not one of them.  So I am sticking with the wheel, but there is still a ton of work to do on it to make it ready for water.

I don't know how long the steering cables have been in place, but I can only assume they have been there for 20 years or so and they clearly need to be replaced.  I also need to redo the cockpit sole and that will require removing the pedestal, so with the exception of the quadrant and the sheaves, I will be basically installing the whole thing from scratch and given the tight quarters underneath the cockpit and my 6'5" frame, I don't anticipate it will be all that fun.



I haven't really gotten too deep into it yet, but I did remove the compass and steering guard from the pedestal and found a huge mouse nest that must have been there for years.  It reeked of urine and I was so revolted by the whole thing that I donned my respirator and latex gloves to clean out the mess.  I forgot to take a photo, but it wouldn't do it justice anyway.  Finding that pretty much took the fight out of me and I tabled the whole project and moved onto more priming.

Over the next 2 days I managed to get the 3rd and final coat of primer on the decks and 2 coats of primer in the cockpit, so I haven't come to a complete standstill.  Over the next week or so, I'll be doing a light sand (220 grit) paper on the areas that will receive the Interlux Perfection topcoat (the other areas will be hidden underneath KiwiGrip, so no sanding there).  Also, I'll probably get one more coat of primer in the cockpit before I commence tearing up the teak and figuring out the best replacement material and method (it will be wood, but not neccesarily teak because of the cost).

Cockpit Time

Another busy weekend kept me away from much boat work, but I did manage to get a few things done.  I got another coat of primer on the cabin top and sides and the cockpit one step closer to primer.  I also started building the mast for the dinghy here.

I cleaned up the soft spot I had found on the bridge deck at the end of last week by pulling all the bad core out and sanding down the inner skin.  Next I ground a 2" bevel around the edges to tie the new with the old and epoxied in a new balsa core and the first of 5 layers of biaxial cloth.  The next day I glued in the remaining 4 layers to bring the new surface close to the level of the old.

5 layers is probably overkill, but the deck was thicker here and I decided that it would be easier to add additional cloth to fill the section up to the level of the old deck rather than use a ton of fairing compound to get the same result.  I finished it off by adding a much smaller amount of fairing compound to the section as well as filling all the leftover fastener holes throughout the cockpit.

Cleaned up and ready for new core.  Note the old core on the right hand side.  This was still in good shape so I left it in place rather than trying to rip it up.

5 layers of biaxial in place.  This left very minor low spots for fairing compound.

Fairing compound in place.  I'll probably need another touch up layer once I sand this one down.

That Stripper is Awesome

The paint stripper that is....

It is however really messy and the cleanup takes almost as long as just sanding.  The good thing is that it doesn't score up the surface and gets into corners that I really couldn't have reached easily with a sander.  This stripper (Peel Away) had been sitting in my basement for years (~10) and I wasn't sure if it still worked or not.  It certainly did!

I'm not really up on the latest chemical stripper news but when I first bought this stuff long ago, it was one of the first 'environmentally friendly' strippers out there.  I think it's soy based but I don't know because the label has long since worn off.  In any event, another cool thing that it uses is a paper backing that you adhere to the gel once it is applied (maybe they all do this now).  This serves 2 purposes; the first is that it keeps the stripping gel from drying out so it works longer.  The second is that when you peel it off all the paint is supposed to stick to the paper.  It sort of works, but doesn't get all of the paint off and certainly a lot of the gel is left behind on the surface.  This is where I spent my time.  Most of the paint does indeed loosen up on the surface your stripping, but removing it along with the leftover gel is just a really messy proposition.

So, armed with a garbage bag, a carbide scraper, and a set of cabinet scrapers I set to work getting it all cleaned up.  At first it didn't seem all that bad, and it was kind of satisfying seeing big sheets of paint come off, but after I'd been on my knees in the cockpit covered in the stuff for an hour it gets old.  Couple that with the boatshed temperature approaching the high 90's it gets old.  Mmmmm, fun.  Anyway, it was a job that I was dreading and it's done now.  I finished up with a bucket of hot water and washed everything down to get the residue off.

As I was finishing up, I stepped on part of the bridge deck that I normally reserve for the shop vac and felt something bad.  Further inspection revealed that a 2 foot section of the port side bridge deck was at the very least delaminated, but I suspected worse (wet core).  I drilled out a few test holes and sure enough, the core was completely soaked in that area (&*#^!@$ CRAP).  I really don't know why it was wet there, because there aren't any through holes other than an icebox access hatch that the previous owner had installed.  The only other spot water could possibly have gotten in was a small spot where the boom crutch has supported the boom for years.  Over time it had worn away the paint and had gotten into the roving (visible).  I didn't think that it had gotten all the way through the skin though.

Finding this was a complete kick in the nuts and I wanted to cry.  I thought I was done with core repairs and actually had hopes of getting the cockpit primed this weekend.  I threw myself a full on pity party and went back to the house for dinner.  I need to apologize to Steph and the kids because she had made a really nice dinner and we ate out on the deck, but I was in a foul mood so I don't think there was much merriment.

During dinner I resigned myself to the fact that there was more core work to do and it wasn't going to get done unless I did it. So after eating, I went back over to the boatshed with the cordless circular saw and my dremel multimax (poor man's Fein) and cut out the offending area.  Today, I'll clean up the bottom skin, grind the bevels, and epoxy in a new core.  With any luck, I'll be able to get 3 new layers of biax on over the weekend.  It's a setback for sure, but in reality it isn't a big deal considering what I've already done to this boat. 

Islands Done

I didn't get too much done over the weekend because of family stuff going on and the boatshed is pretty uninhabitable after 9AM on these hot days.  I was able to pretty much wrap up the chainplate islands (or housekeeping pads) and get another coat of primer on the decks though, so it wasn't a wasted weekend.

I had started by gluing down the islands on Thursday with West System Six10.  I let them cure overnight and then early Friday morning I pulled the chainplates to make sure I hadn't glued them into the boat inadvertently.  With that done, I was able to putty a filet of fairing compound around each island where it is glued to the deck.  After a few hours I came back and sanded everything down so it was fair and ready for primer.  This morning I got up really early to beat the heat and got and everything wiped down and the primer mixed up before 7AM.  By 8:00 the decks had another coat of primer and the chainplate islands look pretty good.  I have to do a little cleanup before the final primer coat next week, but all in all, they should serve me well.

Island Time

Unfortunately island time will not include sounds of ice clinking in a fluffy rum drink with the palms gently swaying in the trade winds overhead.  This island time involves me, my boat, a stifling 90 degree boatshed and the installation of chain plate islands that I cast last year sometime.  Sounds romantic doesn't it?

For this job I chose to try West System Six10 epoxy adhesive as my sticky tool of choice. I'd heard good things about it and liked the way you could really target where you were putting the epoxy; exactly what I needed.  It uses a standard run of the mill caulking gun though West advises that if the temps are below 60 the epoxy might not flow easily and you might want to use a more robust caulking gun.  Given the boatshed temperature today, I knew there would be no problem with the epoxy flowing.

The design of this product is really well thought out.  There is a screw down cap and a plug that separates the base and the catalyst that easily pop out and are just as easy to put back in place if you don't use a full tube.  The mixing head is also really cool; it basically forces both sides of the tube (base and catalyst) up through the static mixing head which is simple but elegant.  I don't have a good picture of it but it reminds me of what a sea shell would look like if it were digitized.  Sort of like a pixelated nautilus... Whatever, it's pretty neat; the only downside is that once you use it you need to throw it away.

So, back to the islands...  When I originally cast these last October (see here), I made them as rectangles, but when I dry fitted them last week there were 2 issues.  The first was that the corners were too sharp and were clearly going to make peoples toes very angry when walking forward.  The second was that they just looked odd when set against the curve of the bulwark.  I ended up grinding the corners off too fix both issues.  I took slightly less off the corners of island for the backstay because it is more out of the way.

Before I started gluing up the islands, I spent a bit of time cleaning up the chainplate slots with a metal file and fitting each one in place with a single bolt down below to make sure they were seated properly.  With that complete, I wiped everything down with acetone and 'fired' up the Six10 cartridge.  I'll say it again, this thing is slick.  It laid down a perfect bead of epoxy on the islands and then I carefully fit them over the seated chainplate and smooshed them in place.  Once I had set all of them I went back around with a rag and cleaned up any epoxy that had oozed out.  It only took about 10 minutes to get all the islands glued in place and cleaned up; very nice. When they are cured up tomorrow, I'll pull the chainplates (to make sure I didn't glue them permanently), and add a small filet of fairing compound where they meet the deck.

Next, I moved onto the hull-deck joint that had been previously patched (see here).  I had previously drilled 6 holes into the top of the bulwark along a 4 foot section to see what was going on in there.  I found that the bulwark was hollow except where 5200 had been injected in during the repair.  I decided that the best approach was to leave it alone for the most part but to put in epoxy 'plugs' that would tie the joint together and potentially stop any water from flowing into other areas of the bulwark.  Since I still had plenty of time left before the epoxy in the static mixing head kicked (they say 42 minutes work time), I used the holes I had drilled as filler ports and injected epoxy in until it squeezed out the sides.  I used up the remainder of the tube doing this and think that it will serve its purpose well.  I didn't take any pictures because there wasn't much to see.  When I install the caprail, I'll make sure to use extra sealant in this area to make sure that there were no areas I missed (not sure what I'm using next).

At this point I was still armed with a bit of time before I needed to get back to the real world, so I decided to try out some stripper that had been sitting around in my basement for a few years.  I'm not sure if it will still work (or if it ever did), but it's labeled as an environmentally safer stripper (Peel Away).  I slathered it on the cockpit seats and laid the paper backing (came with kit) on it to keep it from evaporating.  I'll pull it off tomorrow and see how it worked.

Into the Night

It's been a busy week with non-boat related activities but I finally managed to get the decks around the cockpit primed.  At the same time, I was able to get a second coat on the sides of the cabintop and any of the areas on the cabintop that were faired with Quickfair.  Of course it was pretty late by the time I finished and the light was definitely bad so I'm surprised it came out as well as it did.

I think I've said before that I do not like painting mainly because I never have very good results.  Well, I seem to have found a way to make it look better and it is totally opposite of the way your supposed to do it, so I'm not sure how this will look once the final painting is said and done.  The way I did it last night (with good results) is to dip a brush into the paint and then roll it out.  It removes the brush strokes that I can never seem to get rid of (especially when I'm attempting to tip it out) and smooths the paint to a uniform texture (yes, probably known as orange peel).  Maybe I'll get refined by the time I get to the top coats (which are getting pretty close now).

I still have to tackle the cockpit priming and the perimeter where I faired along the bulwark and the chainplate covers but the list is getting smaller now.  Woo-Freaking-Hoo!