week 12

This week was all about painting. I mixed the topsides paint, Interlux Hatteras Off White 1990 with a white primer and rolled it on the topsides and boot. This was sanded, and I managed to brush on 3 coats of the off white sanding inbetween with a scotch brite. The resulting finish looks really nice. Its not perfect, but its really nice. Then, I brushed on two coats of red boot stripe, cutting up to the topsides paint. With this finished, the paint job is essentially complete, besides the jackstand spots on the bottom and where the keel is blocked up that need touching up before she goes in the water. I moved all four jack stands to patch their spots with seam compound and paint, but the keel areas will have to wait until the day of the launch.

My next project was working on the toe rails. I already made and sanded them last week, so i just needed to fit them up on the boat with the bow chocks and fasten them down. This went pretty quickly and really adds a nice touch to the look of the boat. I bedded them down with natural bedding, bunged the screw holes, and hot coated three coats of Allspar varnish. The first coat was thinned with the elixir mix to help seal the wood.

At the end of the week, I took the boatyard's advice and filled the boat up with water on the inside. This is done before an old boat goes in the water to see if there are going to be any surprises when shes launched and also to help the wood swell before she is totally submerged. I was expecting a rush of water to pour out of the seams but to my surprise only a few trickles came out of the keelson seam. Once the keelson swells, this will be reduced even more. I am taking this as a good sign and it is easing my mind since she is due to launch on May 10th.

Next up are the rub rails and cockpit coamings. If I can get these two things on before she's launched I will be a very happy guy.