November 27, 2017
Steadfast 24
Monday
The owner requested that I remove and send to him the four round deadlights from the forward hull so he could have them rechromed, all the better to complement the freshly repainted hull. So now that I had all the masking removed and once more had access inside the boat, I removed the frames and their backing rings. The deadlights were secured through the hull with machine screws and nuts inside. In some cases, I could remove the nuts without the fasteners spinning, but in other locations I had to secure the nuts inside with locking pliers and remove the screws from outside.
Once I’d removed all the fasteners, I carefully pried loose the external frames and glass to avoid any damage to the hull paint. I packaged the frames up and shipped them to the owner, as he had a local shop ready to do the refinishing.
Next, I moved on to masking for the brightwork, starting at the top of the boat with the pilothouse roof, and working my way around the deck areas, masking around handrail supports, existing hardware, and against the decks as needed to prepare the woodwork for maintenance coats of finish (on the pilothouse and coachroof), and all-new finish on the caprails. I removed the wooden cockpit seating areas so I could refinish them down on the bench.
With the decks masked, I continued on the hull, masking off the lower edge of the caprails bow and stern and around the bulwarks and rubrails to prepare for their new finish. Afterwards, I wiped down all the woodwork with paint thinner to clean it one last time, so the wood would be ready for new finish next time.
Total time billed on this job today: 5.5 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 29°, clear. Forecast for the day: Sunny, 40°