Tuesday

With at least two maintenance coats of varnish on all parts of the windshield, the usual prescription, and no issues with the last coat I’d put down, I could call this year’s maintenance complete and remove all the masking tape and clean up any gunk in the corners and so forth.

During much of the rest of the rest of the morning, I worked to reinstall hardware that I’d removed for the varnish maintenance, including canvas snaps, bow frame, the masthead light, anchor roller and anchor,  bronze chafe guards, and some of the removable trim pieces in the cockpit.

The companionway hatch and bifold doors required a light sanding and another coat on their main surfaces, which I hoped and expected would be the final varnish on these pieces for now.

To finish up the day, I replaced the worn shaft and rudder zincs with new ones, and installed at the owner’s request a line cutter on the shaft just forward of the propeller.  This was a split version that allowed installation without removing the propeller, a much more convenient alternative (especially since I was prop puller-challenged at the moment, having broken my puller when I tried to remove the propeller from another boat a while back, and had yet to replace).

Total time billed on this job today:  5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  42°, partly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Partly sunny, 54°

Monday

I began as usual by lightly sanding all the brightwork currently underway, now mainly the windshield and the companionway doors and hatches, as many of the other small parts were now deemed complete after their two maintenance coats.  Because the narrow cockpit edge trim pieces were continual trouble spots, I decided to continue and apply additional coats of varnish as long as I was also varnishing other parts of the boat.

As always, varnishing the first (back) side of the louvered doors created some drips beneath that I now had to scrape and sand clean so I could complete the maintenance coats on the main side.  I also masked off various areas of the doors so that any stray drips as I worked on the top side would not sully the completed varnish beneath.

After vacuuming, solvent-washing, and, eventually, tacking off, I applied another full-strength coat of varnish to all the trim pieces, and to all surfaces of the windshield inside and out.

Total time billed on this job today:  4.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  45°, mainly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Clouds then becoming mostly sunny, chance of a shower, 60°

Friday

After the usual preparations, I applied a second coat of gloss white paint to the boottop.  Later in the day, once the paint had tacked up, I removed the masking tape.

In the woodshop, I lightly sanded the small parts as needed to prepare them for their second maintenance coat of varnish.

After final cleaning and tacking off all parts, I got to work on the windshield, applying the first all-over maintenance coat to both sides and all surfaces.

Then, I applied the second of hopefully two maintenance coats to the various small parts and cockpit trim.

Total time billed on this job today:  3 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  45°, fog and showers.  Forecast for the day:  Rain, 52°

Thursday

After two coats of new varnish on the various trim that was already in good condition–coachroof handrails, forward hatch trim, anchor platform, and the helm and companionway trim–I deemed this year’s maintenance on those areas complete and removed masking tape to the extent possible.

I was ready to start applying full maintenance coats to the windshield after 4 or 5 initial patch coats on the isolated bare areas I’d scraped, but since the fresh varnish on the nearby trim was still young and on the delicate side, and there was no way to reach the windshield without leaning over, into, and even on the fresh trim, I reluctantly decided to wait another day before continuing with the windshield, which still required 2 or more maintenance coats over the whole thing.

Instead, I turned to the bottom and boottop.  The boottop was in poor-ish condition with old and worn–though mostly sound–paint, and required a spruce-up for the season, although with plans to paint the entire hull (including the boottop) coming up for next winter’s round of maintenance work, no heroic measures were needed on the boottop.  The media blasting of the old bottom paint had left a narrow strip just below the boottop that still required removal.

To begin, I scraped away the remnants of bottom paint, not worrying particularly if I scraped a bit of the boottop paint in the process.  I removed the loose and thick layers of old bottom paint–probably a buildup since the boat’s construction in 1987–as far as the gray barrier coat, which was still sound.  With plans to sand and paint the topsides during the 2020-2021 winter, I knew I’d be able to further sand and clean up this area then.  Once I’d removed the bottom paint and cleaned up the messy spoils, I lightly sanded the boottop as needed to accept new paint–paint that just had to work for this season, so my level of preparation reflected the immediate future plans.

After cleaning up the boat and shop, I turned to the day’s coat of maintenance varnish.  This time, I applied another coat to the after piece of engine box trim (which I’d stripped bare a few days earlier), a second coat on the back sides of the bi-fold companionway doors and overhead hatch, and a first coat of maintenance varnish on the remaining small parts:  rod holders, binocular case, cockpit trim pieces, and access hatches.

Next, I masked off both sides of the boottop and applied a coat of gloss white paint, the first of probably two total coats needed.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  37°  Forecast for the day:  Cloudy, 48°

Wednesday

I got started by sanding the new varnish I’d put down last time, including the windshield patch repairs; handrails; forward hatch frame; anchor platform; helm trim; companionway; and the engine box trim.  Once the sanding was complete, I vacuumed and solvent-washed as needed.

Later, after final preparations, I applied another coat of varnish to these areas.

In the time between sanding and varnishing the trim on the boat herself, I worked in the woodshop to clean up the shop and benches and vacuum and solvent-wash all the companionway and loose trim parts that I’d sanded earlier.  With things thusly prepared, I applied a coat of varnish to the back sides of the louvered companionway doors and the companionway hatch covers.  I left the remaining small pieces for another time.

Total time billed on this job today:  4.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  30°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 58°

Tuesday

I finished up with the masking around the inside of the windshield, helm area, and the engine box, then moved out on deck and masked the windshield as needed in all areas. With that complete, I could lightly sand the small spots of varnish I’d repaired in various areas, and apply a second coat.  I hoped to get a third coat on later in the day.

Meanwhile, I finished up the masking around the forward hatch, handrails, and anchor platform.

After final surface preparation, I applied the first maintenance coat of varnish to the helm and companionway trim, handrails, engine box, forward hatch, and anchor platform, along with a third spot coat on the windshield repairs (and aft piece of engine box trim).

To finish up the day, in the woodshop I sanded all the loose trim pieces I’d removed earlier, preparing them for their own maintenance coats of varnish in the near future.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  30°, cloudy, light dusting of snow overnight.  Forecast for the day:  Cloudy with chance of rain or snow, windy, 53°

Monday

Picking up where I left off, I began by stripping, then sanding smooth and clean, the port toerail.  The owner was seriously considering leaving the toerail bare, as he was intrigued by the combination appearance of some bright/some natural (not to mention the ongoing problem with the toerail varnish failing at the deck edge), so I over-documented the condition of the rail from various angles to show the condition and character of the bare wood.

To augment pictures from last time of the starboard toerail:

Similarly, the owner was contemplating whether to also leave the eyebrow bare, so I took additional photos of the trim’s condition on both sides.

Moving on, I worked next on the handrails, forward sides of the windshield, and the forward hatch surround, sanding these as needed to prepare them for maintenance coats of varnish.  I had to scrape away a few small areas of failed varnish on the windshield, mainly at the wood seams near the corners; this coating was getting rather long in the tooth after 11 years since the last total re-do, but the owner wanted to stretch it out for another year or two based on his long-term plans and upgrades to the boat, so I planned to patch in these small bare areas before recoating the entire windshield with several maintenance coats this time around.  This treatment was far from idea, but it was what was needed at the moment.

I also removed the anchor roller and sanded the varnished anchor platform, which we’d decided to leave bright, as needed to prepare it for maintenance coats, though I didn’t seem to take any pictures of this.

Continuing, I moved into the cockpit and worked on all the necessary prepwork on the inside faces of the windshield, plus the companionway trim, engine box, and adjacent areas as needed.  I had to strip the after piece of trim on the engine box, as this was in poor condition, and also spot-scraped a few small areas on the windshield, much as I’d done on the forward sides.

After vacuuming and solvent-washing all areas, I got started on some of the masking, beginning with the tightest, most difficult areas on the aft side of the windshield and behind the helm area, along with the engine box trim and some of the other windshield areas.

After a while of this, and with the day growing short, I wanted to get a sealer coat of varnish on the various bare patches I’d scraped and sanded on the windshield and elsewhere, so before knocking off I took care of this.  I wanted to get several spot coats on these areas before I started with full maintenance coats.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  35°, rain.  Forecast for the day:  Rain, maybe some snow, windy (surprise!), 35°

Friday

I spent the day working on the eyebrow trim and toerails, where the old varnish had failed substantially (in the case of the eyebrows), or begun to fail in certain areas (toerails, mostly at the bottom edge where they met the deck–a notorious failure starting point).  The varnish on the toerails was only 18 months old, which was disappointing (who did that work?), but the eyebrows’ last total strip and re-do dated to 2009, so that wasn’t bad.

In any event, over the course of the day I stripped and sanded smooth the eyebrow on both sides and along the forward end of the cabin trunk, and stripped and sanded clean the starboard toerail.  The wood beneath was in good condition.  I did a little early work on some of the nearby trim as well, including the sides of the windshield where there were some spot failures near some of the seams.  The owner wanted to postpone a major re-do of the windshield for the moment, and with most of the assembly still in pretty good condition, I planned to repair the areas I’d scraped and add several coats of varnish over all areas thereafter.

Total time billed on this job today:  5.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  25°, mainly cloudy. Forecast for the day:  Partly sunny, 52°

Thursday

After working on an unrelated project part of the morning, I got off to a slow start with some preparation for the canvas contractor, who had been engaged to build new interior cushions, and also rebuild/reconfigure a helm cover that he’d built for the boat years before.  So to start, I cleaned out all the stuff that was stored on the v-berth, making room for him to come pattern.  While he was on board, I left him to his devices and kept my safe distance.  While he was here, he also patterned a mainsail cover for another boat at the shop; I’d set up the mast, boom, and sail for him earlier in the morning, out in the yard.

With that work out of the way, I got going with the brightwork.  Some of the trim, particularly the eyebrow but also portions of the toerail, had suffered from essentially freeze-drying damage:  small amounts of moisture beneath the varnish, when subjected to the winter’s now all-too-typical and frequent freeze/thaw cycles, basically blew the varnish off the wood in these areas.  While I’d actually stripped and revarnished the toerails the last time the boat was here (the work was done in October 2018), and the failures there were disappointing,  the eyebrows back then had shown some signs of aging, so it wasn’t as if they’d been pristine before this past winter.  Even so I was appalled when I saw their condition.  The eyebrows, and probably the toerails, where the varnish had failed in a few spots starting at the intersection with the deck–a common failure point–would require stripping; other pieces of trim, especially the trim around the edges of the cockpit, probably required stripping as well.  The windshield frame had its usual trouble spots at some of its myriad seams, issues I’d dealt with over and again during  the years, and I’d assess that as I went, though my initial feeling was that stripping the windshield was something to be scheduled for a work session in the future rather than now.

Next, I removed all the trim and hardware that I could, preparing all the loose trim pieces for their maintenance work.  This left things at a good place to start with the real work next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  4 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 30°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, windy, 50°

Wednesday

A week or so back, taking advantage of a nice day and knowing the project would soon begin, I removed the winter cover and frame from the boat.  This also allowed me to get the soda blasting contractor lined up to strip the bottom, a job that was supposed to have occurred back in the fall, but weather and other circumstances intervened and at the time we mutually agreed to postpone the work till spring.

Over a period of two days–the first of which was to wrap the boat to contain the debris, and the second to do the actual paint removal–the contractor stripped many years of bottom paint from the hull, bringing it back to bare gelcoat (green) and some remnants of an old barrier coat.  This left just a narrow band right below the boottop for me to scrape later.

This all worked out just in time, as I was ready to move Skeedeen into the shop for this year’s round of varnish maintenance (unfortunately more than either the owner or I had hoped for, since many areas seem to have been blown off by freeze/thaw cycles–more on this in the immediate future) and a few other small jobs.

Total time billed on this job today:  1 hour

0600 Weather Observation: 30°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, increasing clouds, windy, 41°