January 4, 2016
Danusia 8
Monday
After a morning appointment away from the shop, I prepared to begin stripping the old finish from the exterior brightwork. The original finish, an opaque, heavily-colored coating called Cetol, had been well-maintained over most of the boat’s life and, despite a few recent coatings failures, had well-protected the original woodwork beneath, but it was time to start over and remove all the old finish before recoating. For now, I focused on the starboard side.
Where possible, I removed fittings that were in the way, such as the anchor roller and stop and assorted screwed-on installations. I didn’t attempt to remove anything that was through-bolted. Then, with a scraper and heat gun, I started at the starboard bow platform and removed the old finish from the platform, and eventually worked my way aft along the entire toerail and rubrail to strip the finish to the bare wood. I also had time to strip the eyebrow trim before the end of the day.
I’d continue with other parts of the boat in the days ahead.
Total time billed on this job today: 5 hours
0600 Weather Report:
20°, clear. Forecast for the day: Mainly clear, highs in the 20s but falling