June 11th, 2013

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Tuesday June 11 Slow Progress

Tuesday, June 11th, 2013

Today I put on the first clear finish coat of the hull interior and the primer coat for the cabin sides and roof. The deck is just about ready for the new deck. It was an enormous time consuming job to fair the cabin sides and the deck frame support. Over the 33 years life of “Fleetwood” the teak deck had been sanded and newly caulked at least 15 times. I used black “5200”  to caulk  and it is impossible to remove with a  mechanical sander.

I have carried 4 quarts of clear 1 part epoxy finish from “Top Secret Coatings” aboard since the spring of 2008. It sounded like a better alternative to finish my clear hull, rather than two part linear polyurethane I had used until then. But it did not like the Florida heat, it looked like a bubble bath. The next year I painted the hull exterior. But it works dandy for the clear finished interior. See below picture. So now my living room walls will again resemble a Stradivarius. This is the first time in 33 years that the hull interior is redone. The clear Mahogany plywood panels came from the Whisstock’s boat yard already coated with West System epoxy.  What I found odd is that some of the panels still had a very sound epoxy base while others the epoxy was loose and could be easily scraped off. And it did not seem to matter if they were in dark spots where little light could break the epoxy down or in exposed areas.

I am glad I had the chance to get at the nooks and crannies with the deck off. She will be like brand new again. I could not save the teak cockpit coamings, 1 1/4 x 8″ x 6’6″ (30 x 200mm x 1,95m) to replace these I was quoted € 239 ($ 325) in rough lumber, milled, I am looking at probably close to $500. The teak rub-rails are more expensive yet. I think I’ll look for an alternate specie.   I am going to get help from the yard where I am working to cut the plywood to the patterns I have saved and to scarf the joints and bevel the edges where it joints the sloping cabin sides. The summer is here now and I am trying to get an early start and then take a long siesta when the heat in the shed gets unbearable. I am still looking for a home before I have to vacate the spot here in the marina the end of this week.