Now that the fresh paint had cured for a few days, I felt comfortable to get to work on the few remaining items on my list, starting with reinstalling hardware as necessary.

I began with the two small plastic fairleads, one located on each sidedeck.  With new fasteners and butyl tape, I secured these in place.  Later, I removed the butyl squeeze out (not shown).

On the engine hatch, I installed a pair of new plastic deck plates to accept the new PVC cowl vents.  Here, I chose Sikaflex 291 sealant to secure these in place, since butyl tape would be difficult to compress sufficiently with the brittle plastic deck plates.

I reinstalled the sea hood with two layers of butyl tape (chosen here for its easy removability) and the existing screws.

Next, I inspected the cockpit scuppers and seacocks at the owner’s request to check for operation and overall condition.  Both seacocks operated freely, and the hoses and clamps were in good condition.

Next, before removing the battery, I checked the operation of the running lights (all operable, though it’s hard to see the bow light in the photos) and interior lights (all operable except the starboard v-berth light, which probably requires a bulb).

Next, I got the mast back on deck, using a couple temporary wall brackets and some 2x4s to help me slide the mast back up to the boat from where it hung from the wall.  This was easier on me than the removal process, where I found the mast was a little heavier than I expected.  I secured the mast to the pulpits with small stuff, and also to the owner’s cross brace in the cockpit.

With that, the work was complete, other than installing a winter tarp and moving the boat outdoors.  Click on to watch a video summary of the project.

 

 

The fresh nonskid paint had had over 24 hours’ cure time, so now I removed all the masking tape to reveal the finished product.

Work remaining:  a few bits of hardware to reinstall; secure the mast back on deck; check a couple things for the owner and remove the battery; and cover and store the boat outdoors.

Following the same process as on the first coat, I applied the second and final coat of nonskid paint to the deck areas.

After final preparations, I applied the first of two coats of sand beige nonskid paint to all areas, starting with the coachroof, then the cockpit, then around the sidedecks, foredeck, and poop deck.

Over the course of the day, I prepared the deck areas for new paint by masking off around all the existing nonskid pattern areas, following the original lines.  With the masking complete, I finished the paint prep with a final cleanup and solvent wash of the surfaces.

Afterwards, I cleaned up the bonding surfaces of the sea hood that I’d removed a few days before, removing the vestiges of old sealant, then cleaned the top surface, sanded the nonskid, and masked off the top to prepare it for the new nonskid as well.

Now that the boat was cleaned up, my next task was to prepare the existing nonskid for recoating.  For this, I sanded all areas with 80 grit paper on a palm sander and by hand as needed.  The existing surface approximated the texture of, say, 120-grit sandpaper, and my goal was not to smooth it completely, but mainly to remove some of the texture and otherwise prepare the surface for new paint.  This took several hours, and while the results don’t show up remarkably in the photos, the surface ended up demonstrably cleaner and smoother than at the beginning of the day’s work.

With the sanding complete, I blew down the boat with compressed air, then vacuumed and solvent-washed all surfaces to prepare for masking and eventual painting.

The main task on my list for August West this time around was to repaint the nonskid on deck.  The boat still had all-original gelcoat and nonskid throughout, generally in good condition, but the owner felt it was time for a refresh.

After moving the boat indoors the day before, I began the project by setting up staging around the boat to give me good access to the deck areas.  I also removed the mast and stored it along the wall, to improve my ability to move around on board.

The owner reported that he thought someone had built a nest inside the sea hood–he was unable to push the hatch all the way open–and had begun to remove it himself, but apparently ran into difficulty breaking the seal of the sealant, so he asked me to remove the hood and clean out beneath.  I’d installed this sea hood, which came off a Cape Dory 22, several years before, and it didn’t take too long to release the sealant (butyl) and remove the hood, revealing a large, dirty nest and acorn shells beneath.

The deck was generally filthy from storage anyway, so next I cleaned things up as much as possible, sweeping up large debris and then washing the decks with soap and water, both of which helped at least with generally cleaning up the smooth areas that would better allow me to mask and prep the nonskid.  My brush was not aggressive enough to fully clean the nonskid areas, but left things good enough for what I needed to do.