Monday

Starting on the coachroof, I laid out and masked off the eventual nonskid field areas, leaving borders along the various edges and around hardware installations, which the owner had requested in this case.  I used a 1-1/2″ border for the deck edges, and 1″ wide borders around the hardware (just the cabintop handrails in this case) and molded coamings like the forward hatch and companionway, where the overall visual width of the border was already wider thanks to the contours of the molded coamings.  At the aft edges of the coachroof, where I’d chosen to end the previous year’s cockpit painting work, I used some foam tape to help ease the paint transition and provide some tapered overspray I could use to blend the new and old paint as needed; later (not shown in this gallery but visible further down the page), I lightly sanded the transition between primer and “old” topcoat where necessary.

I continued on the main decks in the same way, marking off a 1-1/2″ wide border along the inside edge near the cabin trunk, and along the channels by the toerails.  This was the right width for these areas, but too wide around hardware, so I chose a 1″ wide border around all the hardware, including the bow cleat, hawsepipe, stanchions, chainplates, pulpit bases (I made a cardboard template of the bases to use in laying out the borders), and jib tracks (including the end caps).  Where the winch bases bolted to the deck, a 1″ border was far too wide, since the bases themselves were so slim at that point, so there I used a 1/2″ wide border more in keeping with the small profile of those particular pieces.

On the sea hood, I first marked where the new solar panel would eventually be installed, then, as suggested by the owner,  laid out rounded corners at the mounting locations to accommodate the eventual fasteners in gloss paint.

At the aft ends of the sidedeck, where the new work would meet last year’s work, I further extended the opening as far back as the nonskid on the poopdeck, then used foam tape at the two narrow edges to help blend the new paint in the most minimal way, and sanded the transition between year-old topcoat and new primer as needed to prepare for the fresh paint on the morrow.

Once all the edges and hardware were masked off and shaped, I filled in the field areas with masking paper and tape to prevent overspray.

To finish up the final prep for the painting ahead, I set up some additional lighting along the walls, and performed the final solvent wash of the exposed deck areas.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  39°, overcast.   Forecast for the day:  Showers, rain, wind, 54°

Friday

I spent the morning sanding the freshly-primed decks with 320 grit paper, by machine and hand as needed.  Once I’d sanded over all deck areas one time, I vacuumed up the dust and went around again to touch up any areas requiring more attention that the dust created by the first round of sanding had helped obscure.  There were only a few such areas, but this gave me the chance to fine-tune.

Afterwards, I cleaned up the boat and shop, vacuuming once more, then solvent-washing, then rinsing off the floor and staging to settle any remaining dust.  This left the decks clean, fair, smooth, and dust-free, ready for the next steps, which would begin with laying out and masking for the nonskid pattern.  I’d start this next time, since the fresh primer hadn’t yet cured to safe tape-dry stage.

Total time billed on this job today:   4.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  36°, clear, windy.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 34° but temperature falling throughout the day.

Thursday

After final preparations, I applied 4 coats of epoxy finish primer to the decks, spanning several elapsed hours.

It wasn’t my day for video.  My first attempt resulted in this unwelcome discovery when I retrieved the camera:

I formatted and reset the camera between coats, and tried again for the second coat, successfully recording the dramatic scene below.  However,  something happened to my final saved version of this video between 0:19 and 1:55 (frozen image,), and after some attempts I was unable (and/or unwilling and out of time to continue trying) to repair it. I decided to upload the video despite this, so just fast forward through the dead zone if you want to see the rest of the excitement.

I have legitimate respect for those people who make and post real videos.  I am not worthy, but it’s what I can do for now.  Anyway, the primer looked terrific, which is all that mattered.

Total time billed on this job today:   4 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  28°, overcast.  Forecast for the day:  Wintry mix, then rain, 48°

Wednesday

The fine fairing compound had cured overnight, and I spent part of the morning sanding it away, leaving the decks in their final condition before finish primer.  Going over the whole deck again with the sander also gave me a last opportunity to smooth any areas where small amounts of spray texture remained after the first sanding.  Ultimately, the fine filler remained only in the various small scratches, pinholes, and a few low spots as highlighted by the high-build application.

Afterwards, I blew down the shop, vacuumed and solvent-washed the decks, and washed down the staging, trailer, and floor.

I finished up the boat prep with the usual round of final solvent wash, this time with the paint manufacturer’s proprietary solvent designed for the purpose.  I set up and prepared the paint and equipment, and turned up the heat to get the shop ready for finish primer next time.

Total time billed on this job today:   4.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  26°, overcast.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, 42°

Tuesday

With 220 grit, working by machine and hand as necessary, I sanded the fresh high-build primer on the decks till it was flat and smooth.

Afterwards, I vacuumed the dust and solvent-washed the decks to prepare for the next steps.

I examined the deck thoroughly, using a strong light held at a close angle for assistance, and marked with a hard pencil any low spots, areas requiring additional sanding, pinholes, and other flaws in the surface, which the high-build had by nature and design highlighted.    Once I was satisfied that I’d found all the areas requiring additional attention, I applied gray epoxy fine filling compound as needed, troweling it in to all the pinholes, scratches, and other small voids that only became apparent once the primer was on.

At the transitions outboard of the coamings on each side, where I’d stopped the poop deck painting a year before during the cockpit phase of the project, I removed some of the masking and moved the line further aft, exposing some of the gloss paint on the deck edges.  Then, I sanded this smooth and flat, and eased the hard line where the new primer met the paint, before troweling in a bit of the fine filler to help ease the transition further.    Later, I’d apply the finish primer to the new line, easing further the transition point and leaving enough room for the topcoat to run 1″ further aft to meet the nonskid line at the poop deck to minimize any tape lines that would later need blending.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  18°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 34°

Monday

Over the weekend, I finished up the final painting prep, spending a couple hours setting up paint and spray equipment and doing a final solvent-wash of the decks.

Now, after tacking off and mixing paint, I applied three coats of epoxy-based high-build primer to the decks and sea hood.

Total time billed on this job today:   4.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  27°, light snow.  Forecast for the day:  Gradual clearing, 35°

Tuesday

Inside the boat, I got to work removing the solid teak fiddles defining the edges of the settee berths.  For each of the dozen or so fasteners on each side, I had to remove the teak bungs, then back out the fasteners, after which the fiddles came right off.

Next, I located the four screws securing the existing plywood to the fiberglass liner–three along the bottom edge, and one at the aft edge–along with the screws through the settee top into the hardwood cleats secured behind the settee fronts.  Removing these screws released the fronts for removal, after which I removed them to the bench for inspection and removal of a couple teak cleats located on the exposed sides of the fronts.  I’d use the existing pieces as templates for their replacements as time allowed during off times during the extended painting process ahead.  The hardwood support cleats on the inside of the plywood fronts were glued in place, so I’d have to mill new ones for the replacement fronts.

Afterwards, I cleaned up the mess and drill spoils in the boat.

That was the last thing I wanted to accomplish inside the boat now, as my focus in the next couple weeks would be on priming and painting the decks.  So with no further need to go below, I could finish up the masking at the cockpit bulkhead, companionway, and cockpit.  Leaving out the top swashboard allowed me to hyperextend aft the companionway hatch, exposing the maximum amount of the deck at the leading edge.

With masking complete, I washed down the shop, staging, and trailer thoroughly to get rid of and settle any remaining dust.  I had a few more hours of paint and equipment preparation and some final deck cleaning before I’d be completely ready, which I planned to take care of throughout the upcoming holiday break so I could apply high build during the first of the week.

Total time billed on this job today:  3.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  29°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, 38°

Monday

The new scupper backing pads, as well as the liner cosmetic patch, were well-cured after the weekend, and following a light sanding I touched up the fairing compound where needed to fill pinholes and fine-tune the liner repair and fillets around the through hulls.  I used a quick-curing acrylic fine filler that allowed me to sand once more later in the day, leaving this area ready for the next steps, including primer, paint, and the seacocks’ reinstallation.

For now, though, my focus was on preparing the main decks for high build primer.  I removed the masking tape–now somewhat worn and scuffed–from the toerails and other areas where I’d applied it to protect during surface prep, then vacuumed and solvent-washed all areas to prepare for final masking.

Next, I masked as necessary for the high build primer to come, starting with the forward hatch and companionway, then the toerails, ports, cockpit coamings, and poop deck.  For now, I left the cockpit bulkhead and companionway open, so that I could continue next time with getting started on a couple projects in the cabin, but I set up and partially masked plastic sheeting that would eventually cover the cockpit, keeping it folded back at the forward end for access for the moment.

To integrate the new deck paint with the areas I’d painted during phase 1, particularly at the aft end of the sidedecks outboard of the coamings, I planned to apply the high build up to the paint line I’d left before,  then, before finish primer, extend the new work further aft, sanding and fairing in the transition at that time, so that ultimately the topcoats would blend more easily.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  51°, rain.  Forecast for the day:  Rain and showers, 52°

Friday

During the morning, I sanded all the deck areas once more, all finish sanding by machine and hand with 120 grit, to bring the decks to their pre-primer state of readiness.

After a fairly thorough cleaning of boat and shop, now that the heaviest sanding was complete, I relocated the four stanchion bases as requested by the owner.  The bases had originally been installed flush against the inside of the toerail, which didn’t leave sufficient room for proper drainage or for adequate maintenance of the wood.  Belowdecks, I checked each of the four locations to determine how far I could move the bases inboard; the way the bases landed over the hull/deck flange, and the amount of room available inside the molded liner, affected the position of all four bases, and using the least-good situation as my baseline, I determined I could move the bases in about 1/4″, a  reasonable compromise between the hoped-for effects and the various practical considerations forced by the boat’s construction.

For the forward pair of bases, this was the only position adjustment required, so using a pencil as an easy guide (it was 1/4″ in diameter), I repositioned the bases and drilled small pilot holes through each mounting hole.  These holes did not penetrate all the way through the deck, and would serve to mark the bases’ locations through the two primer applications so that I could easily locate the bases later.

For the after pair of bases, the owner also requested that I move them forward, to help make up for a slightly overlong lifeline gate section that had maxed out its adjustment.  From examining the turnbuckles at the fixed, forward end of the lifelines, I determined that I could safely move the bases forward 1/2″, so after marking the original position with tape, I made the forward adjustment and, along with the new 1/4″ space at the toerails, marked and drilled the pilot holes for the two after bases in their new positions.

From belowdecks, using the pilotholes I drilled during the jib track layout, I drilled back up through the deck to redetermine the track position now that I’d filled and faired the deck above.  For these purposes, I chose only to mark the forwardmost and aftermost holes on each side, which would be enough for me to recreate the tracks’ location later.

Similarly, I marked the holes for the cabintop handrails and, at the bow, the foredeck cleat.

In the cabin, I  sanded and prepared the damaged liner between the two scupper seacock locations, and also sanded clean the areas in way of each through hull for the new installations to come, and reamed out the existing hull holes to remove old sealant.  For repainting purposes, I sanded clean the entire area aft of an existing wooden cleat to give me a defined and logical stopping point.  Afterwards, I applied some epoxy filling compound to the liner.

From a sheet of 3/4″ G10, I made up new backing blocks for the seacocks.  I like to drill the large holes first, before cutting the sheet, to give me more clamping surface to hold the piece conveniently.

After a test-fit and final preparations, I installed the new blocks in a heavy bed of thickened and strengthened epoxy.

Total time billed on this job today:   6.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  38°, clearing.  Forecast for the day:  Clearing, 46°

Thursday

Continuing with the deck surface prep, I spent the morning on another round of sanding and cleaning the decks once more.  Things were close to their final contours.

I also completed some standard hole prep at the handrail bolt locations (4 per side) and the bow cleat, using a 5/8″ bit to remove the core from these locations.  The existing core was in good condition–balsa in the coachroof at the handrail locations, and plywood in the center of the foredeck beneath the bow cleat.

I filled the reamed-out bolt holes with a structural epoxy mixture using high-density filler, then, as needed, applied another round of fairing filler to the decks, mainly to a few obviously low areas in the patchwork.

One of the jobs on the extended “if time allows” list for this season was to replace the plywood settee fronts, two short sections of plywood at the forward ends of the settees that were delaminating from water damage.  I spent some time examining the situation.  Replacing these panels would require removing the teak fiddles from the edges of the berths (held in place with bunged fasteners), and removing various other screws securing the fronts to the berth tops (a hardwood cleat screwed into both pieces), and additional screws securing the bottom edges of the fronts to the molded flange in the fiberglass liner.

There was a clear, straight line visible on both sides of the plywood in these lockers, suggesting that the lockers (or perhaps the whole interior) had once been filled with water to this level for some period of time.  This line was also visible on the outside faces of the settees, though I only truly noticed it once I’d spent the time inspecting the insides of the lockers (seen in the series of photos above).

None of this made much difference to the plan ahead–I just thought it was interesting.  Other than the tedium and care required to remove all the bungs covering the screws securing the fiddles, I thought the settee replacement would be rather straightforward, and I could proceed once we chose the materials.  I had hoped to use an offcut of teak plywood that I had in the shop, but alas, it was too short by about an inch.  The owner indicated he would also consider white-painted plywood, which I thought would be the best and right answer, but we’d soon decide that.

I also had a look at the last through  hull and seacock in the boat, servicing the galley sink.  This had been a question mark on the to-do list, depending on the condition of its backing plate, but the original plywood looked to be sound and in good condition, with no signs of imminent deterioration, and given this, I saw no reason to go through the rigamarole of replacing it just as a matter of course.

Along with preparing the area for the new backing blocks and seacock installation beneath the cockpit, I planned to repair a section of damaged gelcoat in the liner between the through hulls, another request on my project list.  I planned to prepare this area, and the through hull holes, next time I had the sanding gear out.

Total time billed on this job today:   6.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  48°, overcast.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly cloudy, 58°