Cold wet grey and miserable with a brisk breeze round the trossocks, but progress is being made... (if I had a lottery win I'd put Sparrow in a heated factory unit for the winter, but I haven't, so.... tough.... 😏)
First order of the day when arriving was to get a swift first coat on to the bottom washboard (needed to be touch dry before I left) - the following is from last season (didn't have my camera with me yesterday) and the culprit is the bottom board. The paint has flaked badly in the 18 months since this was taken exposing at least a third of the wood to the elements... it's been dry'ish the last few weeks so I decided to get on with it. Scraped off the loose with a paint scraper, sanded down the rest, and managed to get the first coat on and drying while I got on with other stuff - I plan on at least three coats - maybe more..
Once that was done - and with signs of incipient rain - I decided to move to the cabin to complete the paint job - apologies for the quality - these are off the phone..
Either way - sugar soaped the entire side, wiped down, had a pint of 49'er while it dried (cracking pint!), and then a coat of the white on - can't believe how much better it looks..
Very pleasing... this is the side I'd already done
Must tighthen up those curtains some time..
Once that was done, I moved on to the pushpit board - this is it (from last summer)... now I don't propose to understand why this is there (it was on the boat when I got it) and it is invariably a talking point, but having got it I wouldn't be without it... it is ideal for resting against when steering, it's going to be a good spot for the solar panel when I get it, but best of all it is in just the right place to rest your chest on so you can use both arms when wrestling the outboard in and out of the scoop... either way you can see the issues starting back then ...
..and here.. worn varnish => water ingress => mildew...
...I'm not proud, I know I could treat it with oxalic to get rid of the staining but that's too much of a faff..... so I've bought it home, and I'm going to rub it down to the wood, and then slap 3 coats of exterior wood stain on it...
...last of all - the outboard is in for a service...
First order of the day when arriving was to get a swift first coat on to the bottom washboard (needed to be touch dry before I left) - the following is from last season (didn't have my camera with me yesterday) and the culprit is the bottom board. The paint has flaked badly in the 18 months since this was taken exposing at least a third of the wood to the elements... it's been dry'ish the last few weeks so I decided to get on with it. Scraped off the loose with a paint scraper, sanded down the rest, and managed to get the first coat on and drying while I got on with other stuff - I plan on at least three coats - maybe more..
Once that was done - and with signs of incipient rain - I decided to move to the cabin to complete the paint job - apologies for the quality - these are off the phone..
Either way - sugar soaped the entire side, wiped down, had a pint of 49'er while it dried (cracking pint!), and then a coat of the white on - can't believe how much better it looks..
Very pleasing... this is the side I'd already done
Must tighthen up those curtains some time..
Once that was done, I moved on to the pushpit board - this is it (from last summer)... now I don't propose to understand why this is there (it was on the boat when I got it) and it is invariably a talking point, but having got it I wouldn't be without it... it is ideal for resting against when steering, it's going to be a good spot for the solar panel when I get it, but best of all it is in just the right place to rest your chest on so you can use both arms when wrestling the outboard in and out of the scoop... either way you can see the issues starting back then ...
..and here.. worn varnish => water ingress => mildew...
...I'm not proud, I know I could treat it with oxalic to get rid of the staining but that's too much of a faff..... so I've bought it home, and I'm going to rub it down to the wood, and then slap 3 coats of exterior wood stain on it...
...last of all - the outboard is in for a service...
Sailors dilemma when it's too cold and wet to go sailing you can't paint and when the weather is good enough to paint you want to go sailing.
ReplyDeleteMax you are so right.. I can think of two or three occasions last summer when a well wielded paint brush would have saved me a whole load of work this winter.. but you don't want to waste the "water time" do you?? :o)
DeleteNice little cockpit with a good steering position. Cockpit locker lids look good. I wish my yacht had bilge keels, it always looks so straight forward when hauling a boat out without the complications of boat cradles.
ReplyDeleteHi Alden - that picture was taken 18 months ago... before I managed to trash them -- the new ones will look as good... :o) Bilge keels are the norm round here as we're all on mud moorings so the ability to sit upright is key..
DeleteYou're making good progress Steve. I'm still busy but my blogger wallet is broken so no posts!
ReplyDeletePeter.. that countdown timer does the same every year.. it's a constant lash/reminder at how little time I have left... just over 4 weeks until she's splashed.. yikes.. Get some posts up - I enjoy the bike ones by your coast/beaches, but some more on the boat would be good..
Delete