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Wednesday

During the morning, I masked off the fresh white paint to isolate the field areas, following the paint lines I’d laid out previously; then, after final preparations, I applied the first of two coats of white nonskid paint.

Although I’d removed the old lenses, gaskets, and sealant earlier, the deadlight frames required some general cleanup to prepare the bonding surfaces and improve the appearance.  Now, as needed, I cleaned out the grooves and scraped/sanded clean the various bonding surfaces (for the lenses and on the back side, where the frames would rest against the cabin trunk), and removed any final bits of old sealant (silicone) from the exterior of the frames, along with some light buffing with fine sandpaper.  The corresponding inside trim rings were generally in good condition, but all benefited from some minor cleanup and light buffing.

The four opening ports from the forward cabins, also aluminum, were covered with lots of sticky butyl-type sealant from their removal.  For each set, I removed all the old sealant from the surfaces to prepare them for new sealant and reinstallation, and otherwise generally cleaned up the frames and trim rings with fine sandpaper and soft wire brushing to improve appearance.  Later, I removed the old screen frames to make installation of the ports easier when the time came.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  8°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, increasing clouds, 23°

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Tuesday

I spent the good part of the day removing all the masking tape from the deck and other parts, and generally cleaning up and getting the shop back to normal after a few weeks of painting.  I’d presently continue with the nonskid portion of the deck paint, but needed to give the fresh gloss a days’ cure time before masking for the next step.

With that work complete, I spent some time working on the remaining three deadlight frames, removing the old lenses and cleaning up the worst of the old sealant from the frames.  I’d disassembled one of the frames a few weeks earlier, and now that I knew how the arrangement worked the process went a little more quickly.

The aluminum frames would require some additional cleanup to remove all traces of the old sealant and clean out the grooves in which the old rubber gaskets had sat, but that chore was for another time.  In the meantime, I ordered the new lens material so I’d have it on hand shortly to make replacement lenses.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  20°, cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Clouds, some light snow, 20s

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Monday

After final preparations, I applied three coats of Alexseal snow white gloss topcoat to the deck areas, working again in two separate phases:  first the remote areas of the coachroof (around the companionway and forward hatch) and the cockpit well; then, three coats on the remaining areas, including the cabin trunk, channels, coamings, and bulwarks, along with the loose hatches on the shop floor.

Total time billed on this job today:  5.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  26°, mostly clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, high around 30° but then falling in the afternoon

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Friday

Beginning with the cockpit, then moving on to the sidedecks and foredeck, I wrapped up the deck masking work.  In the cockpit, I left an extra 3/4″ width at the outboard edges of the seats to accommodate the thickness of the coamings once reinstalled, and narrowed the gloss border areas to 3/4″ next to the cockpit locker openings, but in other areas I masked off 1-1/2″ borders, as with the masking I’d done earlier.

With the masking complete, I vacuumed once more, then solvent-washed the exposed areas with the special wipe-down solvent provided by the paint system and other final preparations required so I could apply the gloss topcoats next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  4 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  2°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, approaching 20°

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Thursday

First thing, I rinsed off the staging and shop floor to clean them up and remove final sanding dust.  I had to leave the shop for a while in the morning, but afterwards, I spent the remainder of the day working on masking off the decks for the gloss topcoats.  Starting with the loose parts on the shop floor, I marked off 1-1/2″ borders in most areas, masking off the field areas within that would ultimately be nonskid.  On the cockpit locker lids, where the edges would butt more or less directly against the adjacent deck surfaces, I reduced the border to 3/4″ (which would coordinate with similar width borders in the cockpit itself) to keep the overall appearance consistent.

Moving on deck, I started with the coachroof.  Here, I temporarily placed the sea hood in position so I could mark off the gloss borders around its perimeter, again going with 1-1/2″ width.

The edge of the coachroof featured a wide radius transitioning down to the sides of the cabin trunk.  Here, I chose a 4″ measurement, using a pair of steel rules–one held tight to the side of the cabin trunk with the other extending inwards and flat on the deck–to make a series of tick marks along the edge to guide the masking tape.  This held the nonskid edge back far enough for the gloss paint to enhance the curves and appearance of the molding while keeping nonskid close enough to the edge to make stepping on and off the cabin trunk practical and safer.

I finished up the coachroof masking and papered over the field areas to protect against overspray.

On the poop deck, I temporarily positioned the steering room hatch so I could mark 1-1/2″ around its outer edges, then masked off the remainder of the area to suit, which brought me to the end of the day.  I’d finish up the masking and other preparations next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  4.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  8°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 20°

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Wednesday

I spent one more day on sanding duty, this time with 320 grit by machine and hand as necessary to lightly sand the fresh primer.  Afterwards, I performed my usual rounds of cleanup to prepare the decks for the next steps.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  Clear, 32°.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 34° but temperatures falling through the day

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Tuesday

Starting again with the inboard areas of the deck–the coachroof and cockpit well–I applied three coats of epoxy finish primer to the deck areas.  With the first phase complete, I continued with three coats on all other areas of the main decks, cockpit, cabin trunk, and loose parts.

Total time billed on this job today:  6 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  20°, light freezing mist, 1.5″ snow/sleet on the ground.  Forecast for the day:  Warming, freezing rain supposedly changing to rain later in the morning and through the afternoon, 30s. 

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Monday

The fine fairing compound had plenty of cure time over the weekend, and now I sanded these areas as needed to remove the excess and complete the high build phase.

During the rest of the day, I cleaned up and prepared the boat and shop:  blow down, vacuum, rinse down the floor,  two rounds of solvent wash, and all other related steps to prepare the decks and loose parts for finish primer next.  As before, I prepared portions of the deck with protective paper for me to walk, kneel, and/or lean on so I could reach and paint the inboardmost areas first.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  31°, cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Snow developing in the afternoon and evening, continuing overnight with light amounts