Painting, and more painting.

The first coat of paint after the primer took 2 full evenings to complete. Getting up in under all the little nooks and crannies. A few bruises gained trying to contort myself to access these areas. The next two coats went progressively easier. I finished the 3rd coat of paint on the top sides, centerboard and the rudder case tonight. Tomorrow it July 1st, CANADA Day, so I'll have the whole day to work on trial fitting the gunwales I have rough cut and shaped. they'll be removed and varnished then reinstalled.
Time: 12 hrs (over 4 days)

Just a lick of paint

I can multi task can't I?
With all the adjusted duties, less time is spent at this project, not no time. Everything got washed down, sanded and the first coat of primer added to the topsides. The biggest hurdle was the under side of the deck... what a pain! But the topsides made up for it. I have been waiting to see how she finally looked with a lick of paint.
I managed to prime the centerboard and rudder case as well. Time: 6 hrs (3 evenings)

Curve balls

It has been a bunch of days since my last post. with exception of the one I just put on.
With all the work going on Last weekend I made a massive mess. and before painting could begin, I needed to to a major clean up. Saturday evening I started it, My wife wanted to help so she came down and swept as I tossed wood out the door in a selection process between good scrap and "burn it" scrap. She went out the door with a box of sawdust and slipped on one of the boards. It seemed harmless enough a fall, bumping her knee, hardly a scratch. She sat for a few minutes to let the pain pass then like a trooper kept on cleaning up. I made her put some ice on it later that evening and everything seemed normal. then next morning however, Sh awoke with a knee the size of a elephants! and couldn't put any weight on it. I knew something was not right and I took her straight to the hospital. Long story short, after a long wait, we found out she has her knee cap broke in 3 places..... Oh shit.
Since then needless to say priorities have shifted to keeping her off her feet, and keeping the household running. Life has a way of throwing curve balls. The boat is not going anywhere, and i'm now in no great rush since she can't go out with me (at least for the time being)
I'll pick at it when I find time here and there.

Odds-n-ends

Saturday got a bunch of little things done. I first made a bowsprit from the maple My brother and father cut.

That didn't look so good with some flaws in it, so I made another one. That one also had some flaws in it. Mostly large knots and some indications of core rot. So I cut out another one from a previously disgarded piece of maple. It turned out prett good. I need to let it sit and finish curing a bit more before I router the edges and finish sanding.

I took the unfinished bowsprits and cut one up for the gaff jaws. it was a matter of making a template, finding a nice spot and then cutting it out with the jig saw. it was finished with router and sanding. I glued and screwed it to the gaff. it will get some additional shaping later.

The Centerboard got an additional layer of glass cloth, then some epoxy filler. I sanded it smooth and mounted the pin holder made from bronze ore locks. it was screwed and 3M adhesive glued in place. alignment was checked with a 1/2" bolt.
Time: 12 hrs (over 2 days)

pre paint work

Final sanding was done to the inside, all touch-ups done. I finished the first coat of epoxy by 9 pm, but had to wait until 12am for the second coat. Now 3 days must pass before i can prime the first coat. This shot shows my recessed drain. My bulkhead fitting will go here with an attached hose to the cockpit.

The compression post has a base plate screwed to the floor in addition to the post its self.

In the meantime... there's a few odds and ends that need attending to. But that's for this weekend.

Time: 6 hrs (2 evenings)

Touch up

The topsides got finished sanding this evening, then I checked for spots that need an additional layer of Epoxy filler. Mostly at plywood joints.
Tomorrow evening, final sanding, clean up, a once over then 2 coats of epoxy.

Time: 3 1/2 hr

Odds and ends

The centerboard needs to be hauled up via A pulley system, and the first point is at the centerboard case. That's where I made a haul up block mount. It's tilted to allow the line to go to the base of the compression post where the pulley system will be. The haul up mount is made of Maple from my stash cut near my home town. I spent some time making it look nice and drilled some pilot hole which I don't think I'll fill. (Stephen here's another area where the maple is being used)
The transom got a reinforcing pad for the motor mount. Little chance of the motor ripping loose from this. The cockpit got its' sanding and rounding off of the edge so as not to be sharp on the legs.
The forward floor edge also got rounded off just because I thought it looked cool.
Then the evening of sanding began.

Time: 3 hr

Pace yorself

I've been working a great deal of hours on the boat lately, and last night I hit one of those walls...
I was sanding away around 10:00 last night when all of a sudden I stopped, and shut the sander off. Not in frustration or anger, but in a realization that it's my boat, and it's supposed to be fun, like a hobby. I'll get this done, but I'll get it done at a pace that I'm happy with. If I push it too hard, too fast I'll burn out and not enjoy it, or worse get pissed off and walk away for a day or so. I'm also at a point in the build where "rushing it" will show in the final product so none of that please.
But it's looking good so far, unlike my yard which has overgrown with my lack of attention. I'll get to that this weekend... perhaps.

Epoxy filler (deck and cockpit)

I took one of my annual vacation days today to work on the boat. Epoxy filler to the deck and cockpit. There are a lot of small cracks and crannies that are hard to get too. Needless to say it took me most of the day to do all these little patches. I couldn't have got this done in one evening. That would have delayed me in getting the 2 coats of epoxy that hopefully will be Wednesdays Job.

All the deck holes for cleats, bow chocks, and blocks have been drilled oversize for epoxy coating.

Time: 8 hr

A lot can happen over the weekend.

Where Was I? Ah yes, 4 coats of paint, and 3 coats of Blue on top plank, Then tape was pulled off. Saturday morning with the help of Travor we once again set up the slings and prepared for the roll over. Only this time with the outer hull painted we had to be much more careful. We attached carpet to the slings and taped wax paper to the hull. This would allow the boat to slip in the slings easier. Also it protects the fresh paint. Bit by bit the boat was rolled over to deck side.
Blocks of wood on the deck to protect the coaming.Rolled over 180 degrees, fresh paint, not a scratch. Travor Miller is now a certified Journeyman "Boat Roller" Thanks for the aid Trav, it couldn't have been done without you.
No, that is not the finished product you see here. I taped off the lower edge to keep me from rolling blue onto the precious white. Same with the rear. These edge areas will get some hardwood trim items.Sundays list of things checked off... Seat supports, both forward near the centercase and the cockpit seat edges, compression post assembled and installed, bowsprit mount holes located and drilled, fuel line hole through the transom. Gunnel's cut, lower rubstrips cut, coaming caps cut. Holes drilled through the deck for the bowsprit.Compression post is a laminate of 2 pieces of 5/8" ply, sandwiching a piece of 1/2". this is mostly for gaining the necessary thickness for the boom vang mount and centerboard haul up mount.
With all those parts cut and sanded, glued and installed, it leaves a big mess.... A REAL BIG MESS! I'd clean it all up but I am spending tomorrow at cutting more parts so it will be a waste of time to clean up now. tomorrow evening i'll clean up. (yep thats the centerboard down on the floor, it's safer there. (just it tipping over can cause bodily harm.. I know from experience)
Time: 10 hr (including painting, sanding and all this part work.

Rub strips and Top planks

The boat is going to have a 3/8" Teflon rub strip running the length of the keel. I have the Teflon and this evening I match drilled the oversize holes to be filled with epoxy. (yes thats my reflection in the cured paint... Now thats a shine )These holes will have the screws set in them. The top plank is to be painted Sapphire blue and have a rub rail on the top and bottom of that plank. I taped off the lower edge to prevent the blue paint from going below the rub rail and onto the nice white I so carefully laid down.The blue being the same as the white is thin and goes on in the same way, in thin coats. I sanded and prepped this plank like the rest of the boat was done

3 coats should cover the white pretty well I think.

Time: 2 1/2 hr