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Monday

Now that the exterior work was largely complete, I turned once more to the interior.  I spent the morning on various and sundry tasks to prepare the area for priming and painting, and other work, including some final sanding work on some of the patchwork I’d  worked on before closing the interior up for the deck painting.  With these minor tasks out of the way, I vacuumed and solvent-washed the whole interior (i.e. the overhead, cabin trunk, insides of the hull, undersides of the deck, etc.).

First thing in the afternoon, I painted the chainlocker area with white Bilgekote.

Afterwards, I masked off the shelves, berth platforms, trim, and other areas to prepare the interior for primer and paint.  To protect against the inevitable drips, since the berth tops and other areas were unfinished, I covered the flat surfaces with paper for the duration.   Exciting stuff, undoubtedly, but necessary.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
34°, partly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  clearing, mid 30s

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Saturday

In a brief work session, I applied the second coat of nonskid paint to the deck areas.  Later, I removed the masking tape.

Total time billed on this job today:  2 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
20°, mainly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  eventual clearing, near 40

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Friday

The new gloss paint had had enough cure time, so now I went ahead and masked over the new paint, replicating the lines I’d laid out before but in reverse so I could prepare for nonskid paint in the field areas.

After final preparations, I applied the first of two coats of nonskid paint in a light beige color.

Total time billed on this job today:  3.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
22°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  sunny, 34°

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Thursday

Now that the fresh topcoat had had nearly 24 hours’ cure time, and the exterior painting complete, I went ahead and removed all the masking tape from the boat, revealing the clean paint lines and giving a hint to the final appearance of the boat.  I also took the chance to clean up from the recent painting efforts, stowing away the various equipment and returning the shop to more or less normal order.  I’d give the fresh gloss paint another day before overmasking for the nonskid portion of the deck.

Total time billed on this job today:   3.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
20 °, snow, about 4-5″ overnight.  Forecast for the day:  Snow ending, then clearing, low 30s.

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Wednesday

After final preparations, paint mixing, and tacking off, I applied three coats of Alexseal off-white gloss topcoat to the deck areas.   I sprayed the decks in two stages this time (I’d been able to do the primers all at once), to avoid leaning into fresh paint:  first the cockpit well and seating areas, as well as the coachroof and hatch tops, then, after three coats in those areas, I continued with three coats on the cabin trunk channels, and other areas.

Total time billed on this job today:  4.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
Mostly clear, 20°.  Forecast for the day:  Snow beginning late in the afternoon, perhaps another 8-12″ overnight.

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Tuesday

After spending the morning clearing snow and preparing for the next round in another day or so, I got to work in the shop with final preparations for the gloss topcoats on the deck.  During the afternoon, I laid out and masked off the eventual nonskid areas, leaving borders around the edges as necessary for appearance and function.  I covered the field areas with paper to protect against overspray.

Afterwards, I cleaned up the shop and washed down, and finished up with a final vacuum and solvent-wash along with early preparations for the paint and spray equipment.

Total time billed on this job today:  3.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
12°, clear.  24″ or so of snow yesterday..  Forecast for the day:  sunny, high 20s.

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Monday

Starting in the cockpit, and moving outboard, I lightly sanded the fresh primer by hand and machine, smoothing the surface and preparing it for the next steps.  Afterwards, I vacuumed up the dust and performed an initial solvent wash to clean the surfaces for the next stage of masking.

Normally, I’d have continued work, but with heavy snowfall outside I had to turn my attention to plowing staying ahead of the snowfall rates.

Total time billed on this job today:  3.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
20°, heavy snow, maybe 10-12″ since inception.    Forecast for the day:  snow all day, very heavy all morning and into the afternoon.

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Sunday

With a major winter storm predicted for Sunday night and Monday, I changed my painting plans a bit and chose to spray the finish primer coats on Sunday morning instead of Monday, rather than run the risk of losing power at some critical moment during the storm on Monday, as well as to keep my schedule more or less on track.  Even ignoring the sensationalistic hype surrounding the snowstorm, it looked to be significant, and windy, and during the height of the storm wouldn’t be the ideal time to be in the middle of spraying.

So, after final preparations and tack-off, I applied three sprayed coats of epoxy-based finish primer to the deck areas.

Total time billed on this job today:  4 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
12°, cloudy, 4-5″ light, fluffy snow yesterday and overnight.  Forecast for the day:  heavy snow late, overnight, and Monday, 18-24″ predicted

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Thursday

The fine fairing compound had cured overnight, and now I sanded the decks again, concentrating on the areas I’d filled and touching up elsewhere as needed.  Afterwards, I did the cleanup rounds, preparing the boat and shop for the next round of primer, along with sundry tasks like repairing a few areas where the masking tape had been damaged by the sanding.

Total time billed on this job today:  5.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
22°, cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  snow, 8″ or so predicted

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Wednesday

By machine and hand as necessary, I sanded the decks to smooth and prepare the freshly-applied high-build primer for the next steps.

This primer step highlighted various areas requiring a bit of final attention, mainly pinholes in the old gelcoat or laminate, minor crazing, and similar minor flaws that the high-build didn’t fill on its own.  So after cleanup, vacuum, and solvent wash, I applied fine epoxy fairing compound around the deck as needed, focusing mainly on the areas that would eventually be finished with gloss paint, but also in the field areas where necessary.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
14°, light sleet and freezing rain, 4-6″ of snow and sleet overnight.  Forecast for the day:  snow ending, warming to the 40s briefly.