June 1, 2020

Rocket 3

Monday

Continuing work on the rough varnish buildup on the areas of the coamings where it was required, I lightly sanded the three coats’ worth of buildup from last time, then, after cleaning, applied a fourth coat to these areas.  This would be the final patching base coat before I started applying full maintenance coats over the entire coaming.

At my loose suggestion, the owner agreed that painting the old oak rubrail–which was weathered all over and black in some areas, though still in good structural condition–would be a good idea, and would improve the appearance of the wood.  Although replacing the wood was a possibility, with pre-made oak rails readily available from Beetle company, the owner didn’t really want the headache of brightwork maintenance, and liked the idea of paint.  We discussed possible colors, but ultimately he left the choice to me.

I already had the color in mind, but first I had to do some prepwork.  After masking off the rail above and below on all parts of the boat, and other masking as necessary, I began with a coat of white primer over the old oak.  Even the boring primer was a fair improvement over the weathered wood.

Total time billed on this job today:  1 hour

0600 Weather Observation:  30°, clear with frost (!).   Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 60°, with showers possible in the afternoon