Monday

I spent part of the morning getting the boat and shop ready for the boottop painting.  I started by getting rid of the low staging platforms I’d used for the hull–no longer needed–then masked off the top edge of the boottop, following the scribe line in the hull.  As usual, I started with a thin strip of vinyl masking tape that helps provide a crisp paint line, then covered it with regular masking tape since the shiny vinyl allows paint to run if left exposed.  Then, I masked off the whole hull with plastic and paper to protect it from overspray.

With preparations complete, including solvent wash and tack-off of the boottop area, I applied three coats of Alexseal snow white to the boottop, taking a few elapsed hours to do so.

Total time billed on this job today:   5.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  37°, overcast.  Forecast for the day:  Cloudy with chance of showers, 46°

Friday

After final preparations, over the course of several elapsed hours I applied three coats of Alexseal stars and stripes blue to the hull.  The color variations between photos are the result of the variable positions of the strong lighting and camera in each case.

Total time billed on this job today:  4.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  54°, overcast.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly cloudy, 60°

Wednesday

I took a day away from the project while I waited for the transom base coats to cure sufficiently; I couldn’t sand or mask over the fresh paint for at least 24 hours.  Now, having well eclipsed the required curing time, I got to work sanding flat and smooth the transom base, using 320 grit wet-dry paper.  I removed all traces of gloss and spray texture from the surface.

Next, I masked off the boottop on the rest of the hull (I’d previously done so on the transom), using the molded scribe line as a guide.

At the transom, we wanted a narrow border of hull color at the outboard edges, to provide a natural stopping point for the faux wood finish and to simulate the typical thickness of hull planking as would normally be seen were this a wooden boat.  I eventually determined that around 3/4″ was the right-size border for this boat, and marked and masked accordingly.  Studying photos of the boat with the swim platform still installed, I determined where to mask the lower edge of the faux portion (just below the top level of the platform), and masked across the transom at that level.  Then, I filled in the field with masking paper to protect it from overspray.

I rounded out the day with the normal final preparations, including another floor washdown, solvent-washing the hull with the proprietary solvent, and preparing paint and equipment for the hull painting next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  4.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  48°, mainly clear.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, 65°

Tuesday

Over the course of several elapsed hours early in the day, I applied six coats of a special base color required for the faux finishing on the transom.  I applied the extra coats to ensure there was plenty of paint for me to sand smooth and flat in advance of the faux.  I covered the entire transom with the base coat even though some areas, such as below the swim platform and at the edges, would later receive the regular hull color.

Total time billed on this job today:   4.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  45°, mostly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly cloudy, 58°

Monday

I spent the morning sanding the fresh primer with 320 grit, by machine and hand as needed.  This smoothed the surface and prepared the primer for the next steps.

Afterwards, I cleaned up the boat and shop as necessary, blowing down the shop surfaces, sweeping, and washing the floors before vacuuming and solvent washing the hull to remove sanding dust.

I’d spent the weekend considering the various painting steps ahead, as well as my schedule and that of the painter who’d be coming in to render the faux woodgrain on the transom, and eventually came to the decision, for various reasons, to paint the transom with the special base color required for the faux woodgrain first, then move on to the rest of the hull.  This made sense to me in this case because painting the transom base first would allow the faux painter to come in virtually anytime thereafter, which could be important since her schedule is highly variable based around other jobs she’s working on; also, it would be easier for me to mask off the painted transom in order to spray the rest of the hull, versus the other way ’round.

To this end, I made final preparations for the transom base, masking off the edges of the transom and the boottop, and adding some paper to protect the aft ends of the hull from overspray potential.  With that complete, I set up and prepared the painting equipment for next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  30°, mostly clear.  Forecast for the day:  Mainly sunny, 62°

Friday

It was cozy in the shop first thing, as I’d turned up the heat the evening before, and after final preparations and tacking off the boat was ready for primer.

Over several elapsed hours, I spray-applied four coats of gray epoxy primer on the hull.

Total time billed on this job today:  5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  60°, overcast.  Forecast for the day:  Cloudy, with showers, 62°

Thursday

To begin, I lightly sanded the second round of fine filler as needed, completing the hull repair and fairing work.  Afterwards, I vacuumed and solvent-washed the hull.

I cleaned up and washed the floor, and then masked over the engine room vent openings from outside to prepare for painting.  At the bow, I set up some low staging to help me reach the highest points of the bow when painting.

In, around, and between this, I prepared painting equipment, paint and primer, shop lighting, and the myriad other steps needed to prepare the boat and shop for the work ahead.  Later, I solvent-washed the hull one more time, this time with the proprietary solvent designed for this use by the coatings manufacturer.

Total time billed on this job today:  3.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  43°, mostly clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 66°

Wednesday

At first check in the morning, the heavier section of fairing compound at the transom centerline seam was not yet cured enough to sand–a known and expected issue with this particular product, which features a slow hardener and often takes longer to cure in cool temperatures.  So to help this along so I could sand it today, I set up a couple heat lamps and let them warm the area for a few hours.

To complete the transmission removal and provide the rebuild shop everything they requested, I had to remove the damper place, which was bolted to the flywheel.  To gain access, I had to remove the bell housing, which was fairly straightforward although there were many hoses and appliances in the way and secured to the bell housing, such as the transmission oil cooler, but this was just an inconvenience rather than a true impediment.

With the bell housing removed, it didn’t take long to remove the damper plate.  The engine was now unbalanced and unsteady without the counterweight of the transmission, so I bolted a couple blocks to the forward mounts to act as a storage cradle.

Later, I lightly sanded, mostly by hand, the other minor patches where I’d applied the fine fairing filler earlier, then the transom seam as well.

This process highlighted a few areas with pinholes and otherwise requiring some additional attention, so after preparations I applied more of the fine filler where needed.  This was all I could do to advance the project at this time, though I did a first-round shop cleaning afterwards as I began to prepare for primer and paint soon.

Total time billed on this job today:  2.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  48°, mostly clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 65°

Tuesday

The areas I’d filled with epoxy fairing compound were ready for sanding after the long weekend.  After I’d lightly sanded as needed, I vacuumed and solvent-washed the whole hull so I could closely inspect it for whatever further work was required.

Going over the hull closely, I marked with tape several tiny scrapes and divots around the boat–anything that needed a bit more sanding or some fine filling, along with the more obvious places where I knew I’d need at least one coat of fine filler to complete, such as the centerline seam on the transom and a couple places around the engine vent openings.

After final preparations, I applied a coat of fine fairing filler (epoxy) as needed.  The filler is gray in color and most of the areas I filled were minor in nature.

Without much more I could do on the boat itself at this time, I went ahead and masked off the waterline (i.e. top of the bottom paint), following the lower scribe line that I’d uncovered as I sanded the hull earlier.  I followed the masking with some paper to protect the bottom paint from overspray when I started the priming and painting.

The owner asked me to remove the transmission from the engine so he could get it to the shop that was going to rebuild the transmission as a matter of course.  This was not something I did routinely, so after some brief self-education I set to work and removed the transmission without difficulty.  To access all the mounting bolts (four bolts and two studs with nuts), I first removed the transmission mounts, then the mounting bolts.  The port lower stud came out with the nut, but the starboard stud remained in place till the transmission was loose, after which I removed the stud myself.

I still had to remove the damper plate, but for now the day was late and I left this for another time.

Total time billed on this job today:  5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  40°, mainly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Clouds, showers, then rain, 55°

Friday

To begin, I finished up with the plank seam and scribe mark sanding, mainly on the starboard side and transom.

The transom had some cracking down the vertical centerline, a standard occurrence on boats built in two-part molds.  Structurally insignificant, it did create a cosmetic problem to be dealt with, so I ground out the cracked area and a bit beyond to provide a wide bonding area, then applied the first of a couple coats of epoxy fairing compound.

Also in the area, I reamed out and filled screw holes left from the old scupper flaps; we planned to install new flaps of a different nature, and they had a different fastening pattern.

At the engine vent openings, I masked around the openings inside and out, then wet out the reamed out core edges with epoxy before installing a thickened, strengthened epoxy mixture into the voids.  Afterwards, I removed the tape and filled the old fastener holes with epoxy leftover from the transom work.

This short work day left me in a good position for the beginning of the week, when I’d work through the remaining preparation tasks required before painting.

Total time billed on this job today:  2.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  25°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 55°