Lackey Sailing | tim lackey

Thursday

After a day away from the project to give the fresh nonskid enough cure time, it was time to begin deck hardware reinstallation. After getting set up with tools, towels and such to protect the decks, and all the rest, I started, as usual, at the bow with the bow pulpit. Since all the hardware had been newly laid out and installed during phase one, then removed again early in this phase of the project, all the holes were in place (most needed a quick cleanup with the tap to ensure there was no paint in the holes), so the reinstallation effort was as streamlined as it could be. To help me lay out the masking tape to protect the deck during bedding and installation, I made a little cardboard template of the bow pulpit base shape, which I used as an analog to trace around to prepare all the mounting locations; this was easier than manipulating the pulpit and semi-installing it to achieve the same purpose. Installing the pulpit using the same one year-old fasteners was straightforward and uneventful enough, complicated only (as usual) by the tough access to the forwardmost holes from beneath.

Continuing in the area, I installed the forward whisker pole mount, the anchor roller and its riser, the mooring bitt, and the cowl vent in turn. For all the hardware, I masked off and traced the hardware bases on the tape, cut out the tape from the footprint, cleaned up the fastener holes, and installed with plenty of new sealant and the recently-removed fasteners, cleaning up the excess sealant and tape thereafter.

With the bow section done, I continued on down the port side, eventually installing two of the stanchion bases and the after whisker pole mount before the end of the day.

Total time billed on this job today: 6.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 16°, clear. Forecast for the day: Sunny, 27°

Wednesday

Luna Mia’s owner brought her to the shop to repaint the hull, as well as for a few other small projects and repairs, and the boat had been stored indoors in the second shop bay since delivery several weeks earlier. Though I didn’t plan to get into the project in depth for a few more weeks, a required pause in my ongoing project gave me a free day, so I decided to get a head start on things.

The hull appeared to have been painted once, as there were signs of blue gelcoat beneath the existing topcoat in a few areas where the finish had been worn down or scratched. Overall, the hull was in pretty good condition, with no major repairs anticipated during the refinishing process. I’d get into all that in more detail later on.

For now, my plan was to focus on the other smallish tasks on my list, including the following:

Remove an old engine bed from the lazarette (the owner had previously removed the engine and saildrive unit)
Patch the old saildrive hole in the bottom
Patch holes left from the removal of a steering pedestal in the cockpit (the owner had previously removed the wheel steering)
Patch several now-obsolete holes in the transom
Patch some obsolete fastener holes in the bow

The removal of the wheel steering (the owner reported that the pedestal was so far aft that there was no room to stand behind it, never mind the other reasons it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to begin with) left a large hole, and several smaller holes and fastener locations, in the cockpit sole, as well as a slot in the transom through which the original steering cable had extended to the transom-hung rudder. In addition, there were several old fastener holes in the transom that required minor work (previously filled, but showing through), and the now-obsolete engine exhaust outlet to starboard. These various openings in the cockpit and transom needed to be patched and repaired.

The engine bed was a molded fiberglass construction glassed to the hull inside the large aft lazarette, with generally good access thanks to a large hatch. The mount incorporated a large hole that extended through the hull where the saildrive leg had once penetrated. The owner requested that I try to remove the engine foundation in one piece if possible.

After getting properly set up with tools, lighting, and a fan (and as it happened, this was a great weather day for a messy grinding project, as the weather was warm enough to allow me to open the shop door for ventilation), I cut around the base of the foundation, where it was tabbed to the hull all around, with a grinder and cutoff wheel, which easily sliced through the tabbing. Access at the forward corners was tighter, and made more so by the transducers mounted on either side of the foundation, so with various other tools I eventually cut through the tabbing in these trouble spots. So far so good.

The challenging part came when I worked to remove whatever resinous material was filling the area between the hull cutout and the inside of the engine mount. I’d known this would be the hardest part all along, mainly because the opening was fairly small and there wasn’t adequate room for tools within. After various attempts and too much time using grinder and multi-tool from within, and even chisels and prybars from without, with little progress and no clear path to success, I cut through the foundation from side to side in two places, which opened up enough room that I could cut through the remains of the resin mash that secured and filled the opening all around, allowing me to easily remove the rest of the engine foundation. Technically, the old molding could be reassembled and fiberglassed from beneath without too much trouble, so despite having to cut it in the name of efficiency, it wasn’t destroyed beyond all hope. I couldn’t imagine a scenario where this thing would ever be reinstalled in this boat, but theoretically it would be possible with some work.

With a hammer and chisel, I easily removed most of the tabbing and adhesive bead from the hull around the old footprint, then cleaned up the whole area with a grinder. A little later, from beneath the boat, I prepared the underside of the opening for patching as well, removing paint and gelcoat and creating a tapered area to accept new fiberglass.

Meanwhile in the cockpit, I prepared the pedestal mounting area for patching, removing the gelcoat and grinding the area appropriately. I also sanded away the coatings from the insides of the various transom repairs to be dealt with: the engine exhaust to starboard, and the steering slot (and a nearby small hole).

Outside the boat, I prepared the transom for the repairs and patching.

After cleaning up everywhere, and solvent-washing inside and out, I masked over the transom openings from inside, providing a “mold” for the patching work ahead.

Similarly, I masked over the saildrive opening from beneath, using the tape to stretch tightly across the opening in a way that maintained the shape of the hull (there was a slight V shape to the hull along the centerline), and would support and mold the fiberglass above.

I made simple patterns of the various patches and cut fiberglass as needed: For the saildrive opening, and the large transom slot, I cut material to fit within and completely fill the openings as required by the thickness of the hull in each area (about 4-6 layers of 1708), then larger pieces to overlap and fill the previously-ground repair areas, including two large rectangular pieces to widely overlap the hull in way of the saildrive cutout.

Then, after final preparations, I installed the new fiberglass in epoxy resin, first filling the recessed openings with solid fiberglass, then, after using some thickened epoxy to make up some minor variations in the center areas, the larger, overlapping layers to tie the repairs in with the adjacent hull at each location. For the smaller, round holes in the transom, I began by filling the openings with a thickened epoxy mixture, then installed fiberglass to tie in with the hull all around.

I’d continue the repairs another time with the outside part of the patch for the saildrive cutout, and inside patches for the transom openings.

Total time billed on this job today: 6 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 50°, partly cloudy, rain overnight. Forecast for the day: Gradually becoming sunny, 65°

Tuesday

First thing, I applied the second coat of gray nonskid to the decks.

Most of my “known” work list revolved around the deck and reinstalling hardware, and obviously this would have to wait till the paint had cured sufficiently, so in the meantime I reinstalled the rubrail on the hull. I used butyl tape sealant on the back side of the hollow half-oval trim pieces, and reinstalled all the sections around the boat. I had to redrill several of the screw holes that had gotten filled during the various hull and deck work.

A few bits of hardware still needed their undersides scraped of old sealant, including the jib tracks and bow and stern pulpits. I forgot to take a picture of the stern pulpit before I cleaned the bases.

Late in the day, the nonskid had dried enough that I could remove all the masking tape.

Finally, I reinstalled the companionway hatch rails and sliding hatch.

Total time billed on this job today: 5.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 33°, mainly cloudy. Forecast for the day: Mostly cloudy, chance of showers and drizzle, 41°

Monday

As I got started removing the tape from below the boottop, with the rest of the boat still fully wrapped and covered, I couldn’t pass up the contemporaneous opportunity to quickly and lightly scuff over the bottom with an abrasive pad to remove the light, dry remnants of a season’s marine growth, taking all of 10 minutes. Even this basic hand process kicked up ample bottom paint dust (ugh), so having everything above the waterline covered meant that none ended up on the fresh work.

Now I could continue removing all the tape, plastic, and paper from the rest of the boat. I set the staging back to deck height, and otherwise reclaimed the shop in the name of all that is normal. It’s always nice to see the boat fully revealed after a long painting session. The red bottom looked horrible with the new topsides, but I’d have to live with it for right now. Woe is me.

Following the lines of the gloss paint borders around the deck, I remasked the deck to prepare for nonskid application.

After final preparations, I applied the first of two coats of light gray nonskid, the same mixture I’d used during phase 1 in the refinished cockpit.

Total time billed on this job today: 6.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 28°, mainly cloudy. Forecast for the day: Sunny, 47°

Saturday

With sufficient cure time now, I masked off the topsides above the boottop, beginning with a layer of vinyl solvent-resistant fine line tape that I applied right at the edge of the new topsides paint, then covered as completely as possible with a layer of regular masking tape, as the vinyl tends to shed paint and cause drips and weird semi-cured flakes of paint during removal. With the top of the new stripe completely masked, I covered the rest of the hull with plastic, tape, and paper adjacent to the working area. Afterwards, I cleaned the primered bootop section one final time.

I applied 4 coats of snow white gloss LPU to the boottop to complete the major paint work. I ended up with four coats since I convinced myself I saw shadows in one place through the third coat (this ended up being a trick of the lighting and shadows in the shop), so since I had enough paint leftover I played it safe with the 4th coat.

Total time billed on this job today: 4.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 8°, mostly clear. Forecast for the day: Sunny, with increasing clouds and snow showers likely late in the day, 31°

Friday

The new hull paint cured overnight and was looking pretty good. I took some additional photos of it as is now that I could spend more time in the shop inspecting the job.

Next, I removed the masking from the lower edge, exposing the boottop area still in gray primer. The topsides paint was too fresh to mask over, so I’d have to wait a bit longer before I could mask and prepare to spray the boottop.

To make some use of an otherwise idle day while I waited for the paint to cure, I collected all the deck hardware, ports, and deadlights and cleaned off old sealant from the bases and, as needed, some of the fasteners I’d be reusing, preparing everything for reinstallation in the near future. Never a favorite task, it was nevertheless made more palatable by filling a void when there was nothing else I could do to move the project forward: A good use of time for a chore that must be done.

Total time billed on this job today: 3 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 50°, rain. Forecast for the day: Rain ending, windy, temperature dropping

Thursday

With over 40 hours’ cure time on the white deck paint, it was now well into the “safe” zone for overtaping, so to begin I masked off the toerails just above the hull/deck joint, following the line to which I’d brought the white deck paint earlier. With one row of tape in place, I followed with a second, then spread plastic sheeting over the entire deck and, after cutting off the excess, masked it thoroughly in place all around, with plenty of extra tape to ensure there were no voids or seams or missed areas.

Next, I tacked off the hull, then mixed up the paint needed for the job and applied three coats of “wine red” gloss topcoat, as called by this paint system (versus the better-known name “claret” by the other paint system) to the hull over the next few hours’ elapsed time: a stunning transformation. Note that the paint appears lighter (i.e. more red/less maroon) before it’s fully cured, and with the harsh shop lighting in place.

This video shows the first coat, which by design is a light coat to help the second and third coats stick, but nevertheless it provides quite a contrast with the gray primer as it is applied.

Total time billed on this job today: 4.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 44°, partly cloudy. Forecast for the day: Cloudy, windy, rain overnight, 53°

Wednesday

With the deck paint complete, I spent the first part of the day removing all the masking from the deck areas.

To prepare for the hull paint, I couldn’t mask over the fresh deck paint yet and would have to wait another day, but in the meantime there was plenty to keep me busy, starting with laying out and masking the boottop. I chose 2-1/4″ for the visual height of the new stripe, and to create the end reference marks required I used a square and level to mark the new point stem and stern 2-1/4″ above the waterline (i.e. top of the bottom paint), which I’d marked and masked earlier in the process.

With these two points, I could set up my horizontal beams fore and aft at the correct height, after which I used my string theory to mark the top of the new stripe on both sides of the boat, using the same techniques I always do. Then, before removing the cross beams, I made a new mark on the stem 1″ above, as I planned to sheer (raise)the boottop through the bow sections later, a step required to make the stripe look right.

With the clutter out of the way, I masked the new line, following my pencil ticks and fairing by eye. The top edge of the tape represented the top edge of the boottop, and the area above would be covered with the hull paint.

Once I had the line taped to my marks, I measured back from the stem (at the waterline) approximately 1/3 the length of the waterline; in this case, 8′ back looked right to me, and starting from this mark I struck a new tape line by eye forward to the tick mark 1″ above at the stem, creating a new, higher line with a slight sweep that would not be noticeable in and of itself, but would make the boottop look right when complete.

Then I covered the area beneath the tape with masking paper to complete the job.

To round out the day, I set up the staging at hull height, switching out four of the taller supports for some shorter ones amidships to make it easier to walk around, then set up lighting as needed to highlight the hull, and finished up with a final solvent-wash of the topsides. All that remained before I could spray the hull was to cover the decks, which I’d finish next time.

Total time billed on this job today: 7 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 10°, clear. Forecast for the day: Increasing clouds, 38°

Tuesday

After final preparations, I applied three coats of glossy snow white LPU topcoat to the deck areas, beginning with three coats on the coachroof, specifically the companionway and vertical transition between the two sections of the coachroof; then on all the remaining deck areas, including the toerails and channels, cabin trunk, poop deck, and companionway sliding hatch.

Total time billed on this job today: 5.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 5°, fair. Forecast for the day: Increasing clouds, 22°

Monday

Starting on the coachroof, then working down to the sidedecks and elsewhere, I laid out the nonskid field pattern and masked it off, leaving the borders and perimeters for the gloss topcoat exposed. In most areas, I masked for a 1-1/2″ wide border; at the companionway, I left a wider area to accommodate the sea hood when installed, with 1-1/2″ allowance on the three sides. Elsewhere, the layout was straightforward with radiused corners everywhere, and the 1-1/2″ border width continued as appropriate around the few obstructions. I left room around the coaming overlap area forward of the cockpit so this part of the wooden coamings would also have white borders.

At the aft ends of the cabin trunk, and the forward edge of the traveler area, where I’d been making incremental preparations for the glossy paint blending, I used foam tape to help blend the transition on these final coats with the existing paint in these areas.

Afterwards, I went around and touched up a few small areas that needed some additional sanding, set up special topcoat lighting around the shop, prepared paint material and spray equipment, then performed the final cleaning with vacuum and solvent wash to prepare all areas for the paint. In the cockpit, I also added a layer of masking paper on the seats near the coamings to cover up the plastic over the cockpit well, as the previous coats of primer had begun to flake off the plastic (as is wont to happen), and although I already had paper directly adjacent to the areas to be painted for this very reason, the extra paper to cover the flaky bits was minor insurance against contamination. On the port sidedeck, where I’d need to step during the first phase of the painting (to reach the center areas of the coachroof), I added some sacrificial paper to protect the cleaned and prepared deck edge/toerail when I stepped aboard; I’d remove that extra paper once I finished the three coats amidships.