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Tuesday, I began by steeling myself for the always-unpleasant run to Home Depot, ostensibly to pick up the 11/64" beadboard plywood I was planning to use for the bottom, down-facing layer of the decks.  I had been putting the trip off for some time--always something better to do in the shop, crowd avoidance, just didn't feel like it, or some such--but this day, I simply decided it was time.

Arriving at a packed parking lot and inserting my truck into a tiny space, I rounded up a wood cart and headed inside.  Imagine my dismay when, rounding the corner into the plywood aisle, I discovered that all that remained were several damaged sheets of the product, with no back stock.  Puke.

Undaunted (or something roughly akin to that), I headed for a second Home Depot several miles away in South Portland.  All the shelves there were fully stocked, but it looked like they didn't even stock the beadboard.  Rats!  What a waste of a morning.  I returned home and decided to try again next week.

Back at the shop, I decided to concentrate on some painting and finishing.  First, I ground the tabbing from last week, on the intermediate support bulkheads.   Then, I turned to completing the longitudinal V-berth support, which I needed to support the centerline seam of the eventual platform.

With that complete, I vacuumed and cleaned the entire "cabin" area before varnishing the deck beams again (final coat, perhaps?  We'll see...) and then moving on to painting out the lockers and bilge areas.  Later in the week, I applied a second coat of paint to the areas, completing the job.

Click here for more.

Well, I managed to pick up the plywood beadboard that I needed for the first (interior) layer of the decks, but that's as far as it went!  The plywood is stacked in my shop awaiting further attention.

Since last fall, I've had an O'Day 17' Daysailer, which belongs to my Dad, kicking around, awaiting paint.  With no room in the shop last winter, I never got a chance to attend to it; fortunately, he didn't need the boat for this season.  Anyway, I decided that this was the week to prepare and paint the boat, so all my attentions were turned in that direction.  I wanted to get the boat done so that I wouldn't have to worry about it later in the season.

If you're interested, click here to read up on the O'Day.

I'll be off cruising for a few weeks, so, unfortunately, weekly updates will be interrupted until I get back.  Expect more reports by late August.

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