Backrest supports

     Today was spent cutting out, shaping, and starting to install the backrest supports for the starboard side seating area.  I'm getting pretty good at this cardboard template to plywood thing; I only had to make a couple of minor sanding adjustments before they fit in place.  I used the old back rest to hold them in place while I epoxied the top of them to the hull.  Once that cures I can do the bottom half that I couldn't reach today and start working on the shelves.

Odds & Ends

     This is where the picture of my work would go if my phone would cooperate and upload the photo.  Oh well, it wasn't too exciting anyways.

     I started off today by finishing the track replacement.  It turns out all I needed to hold the goose neck in place was a machine screw with a rounded head instead of the flat.  Nothing like something so obvious to make you feel a little stupid.

     The second job done today was sealing off the drain in the icebox with some silicone.  Now it should be waterproof, but I don't want to test it until I finish the shut off valve on the drain.  That shouldn't be too hard to do, I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

     I then moved over to the starboard side seating area.  I have tried so many things to get the left over funk off the side and nothing has worked.  Today I broke down and bought a 80 grit sanding disk thingy that attaches to my grinder.  Messy as hell, but it sure took that funk off.  Now I have a bare slate to stick stuff to and paint.

     With that done I laid the old backrest in place to use as a template and worked on sizing out the supports and shelving that will fit behind it.  Back to cutting cardboard.  The whole thing will be similar to the port side, but instead of having a piece coming up for the electronics, there will be a cutout in the rear that will allow use of a trash bag or small trash can without having to open any hatches.  That is the plan anyways, we'll see how it works out.

Gooseneck track

I found a 7/8" piece of track to replace the one I removed at a local consignment shop for $2.00.  Sold!  It is a different style but the dimensions are correct.  Of course the holes didn't line up so I had to drill and tap new holes.  A little sealant, a little lock tight, a couple of new screws and it is back on.

Now for some reason though the boom just slides right off the bottom of the track.  I can't remember what used to hold it in place.  I walked around the marina looking for anything similar but couldn't find anything remotely like mine.  All newer and flashier boats.  Not many 50 year old boats around here it seems.

I was hoping on getting a bit more done today but it is just too damn hot.  I decided to go home and find something to do in the AC.  I'll leave you with the pictures of old vs new.

One of those weeks

     Last weekend was taken up with the 2nd annual Crab-B-Que at the house.  It was a smashing success, but no work on the sailboat.

     Yesterday was supposed to be spent on the boat, but life got in the way.  It seems my dog got sick the day before, leaving presents all over the house for us. Unfortunately the wife and I were both at work all day.  Great timing dog.  So instead of working on the sailboat I spent the day renting a carpet cleaner, moving furniture, and cleaning all day.  It was so much fun.  Ask me about it sometime if you want to hear me vent for a bit.

     The plan for today was to fix where the boom attaches to the mast so we could attempt to go sailing this coming weekend.  I'm sure you can guess how well this simple repair went.  Here are the before and after pictures in case you lack sufficient imagination.  There is also a broken off screw in the mast that I need to figure out how to remove.

     I went to all the nearby marinas to buy a replacement.  After many false leads and lots of running around I came to the conclusion that my life sucks.  It turns out that this is a 7/8" wide piece, and all anyone can order (let alone has in stock) is a 1".  Time to scour the internet.  If I can't find one I can replace it with a 1", but then I have to replace the part that slides onto it as well.  No, I have no idea what that piece is called.  I'm a fireman, not a sailor, so leave me be.

     Seeing as that wasn't going to get fixed today I moved to the inside for a bit.  I got the drain for the icebox installed after much cutting and fitting.  I didn't get the area around it filled with foam because the top of the can of good stuff broke off when I tried to use it.  Notice a theme for my day?  Lovely.  I also did some finish sanding on the top pieces and got them (temporarily) in place.  Next time I have need for some 4200 or something similar I will glue them down.  They aren't going anywhere for now anyways.  They fit so tightly in place that I had to use a little persuasion with my hammer to get them installed.  The two lids don't fit like I want yet, but thankfully the are a little too big rather than too small.  I can work with that.  Right about them is when my phone died, so no pictures.  Use your imagination, it is a top on a box.

     Not ready to go home yet I moved on to the starboard side seating area.  I tried to sand off the sticky fuzzy crap but it just gummed up the paper in a matter of seconds.  Instead I used some natural paint thinner on it, let it sit for a while, then went to town with a scrapper.  I can't say I got it all off, but I did get most of it.

     Now I have moved my work to the air conditioning to look for parts on the net.  That and have a well deserved beer.  I also had an idea for a name today.  The previous owner was going to name her "Firefly" from a TV show; sticking with the theme I am thinking about "Serenity".  That is the name of the ship from the same show and has a much better ring to me.  Let me know what you think.

Back at it

     I know I have been absent from this for a while.  Life seems to have been pretty busy in the last couple of weeks.  We had a visit from the wife's dad, had to unexpectedly replace a car, and went on a week long trip to visit my family in Michigan.  Yesterday I did absolutely nothing, but today I jumped back in to the boat.

     I put the third and final coat of paint on the inside of the icebox and the bottoms of the top pieces.  After getting the drain installed I will be able to seal it up and give it a test run.  It's hot out there and  it would sure be nice to keep some cold beverages on hand for when I'm "working".

     After painting I decided to see if I could get the drain in place.  Of course I couldn't.  The first problem was the drain tube.  During all my fiberglass work I seemed to have filled it with fairing epoxy.  I tried to chisel it out, but that wasn't happening.  I ended up having to cut it out from the side leaving a nice big hole in the insulation.  After I get it back together I will fill it with some filling foam.  Once I had the whole piece out it cleaned out quickly and easily.  I then tried to install it only to figure out that the hole where the top piece of the drain fits had grown smaller with all the epoxy work.  It shouldn't be a big deal to widen it out a little bit but I didn't want to do it while the paint was still tacky.  I guess it will just have to wait a bit.

     I wasn't ready to go home yet so I started doing some picking up and organizing.  I had put it off for a while now and it was starting to look pretty bad.  While picking up I started moving my supplies and tools over so I can start working on the seating area on the starboard side. With this done I had a nice big open area in to start with.  The first step will be to sand everything down and fill the multitude of old holes created by who knows what.  Then comes the priming, and then I can move on to building out the backrest and dividers.  I'm actually looking forward to that part.  Crazy huh?

     Before I can start sanding I had to remove an old covering of some sort from the side.  Most of it seems to have been cut off at some point in the past, leaving only a piece running behind the backrest from the galley to the forward wall.  It seemed to peel off pretty easily, but left a nasty residue of some sort.  I'm sure it is from the adhesive origionally used to hold it in place.  I'm hoping that it will come off with the sander, but I ran out of time for the day so I will have to wait to find out.

I know...

I know it's been awhile since the last post.  Life has been pretty hectic with not much time for the boat.  I have done a little bit of work though.  Tomorrow I will try to remember to take a picture or two and update my non-existent readers.

And another coat...

     Sometime in the last couple of days I sanded down my first coat op fairing and applied a second.  Today I sanded down the second and applied the third.  Hopefully that will be the last.  If all goes well I will sand it down tomorrow and know for sure.  I leave you with a very exciting picture of my progress.

Not as good

     Yesterday I went and finished putting down the first layer of fiberglass.  It should surprise no one that it didn't go as smoothly as the day before.  I did manage to get the whole icebox covered, but it was messier and much harder than the day before.  I also got the first coat of epoxy mixed with fairing compound put on to try and smooth out some of the flaws.  I'm sure it will need (at least) another coat or two, but it is still progressing in the right direction.

Finally Fiberglassing

     I have been slacking lately when it comes to the sailboat.  I have lots of excuses for this.  Fishing, boating, gardening, mowing the yard every three hours (or so it seems), trips to the vet, working OT.  All good reasons, but today I felt like I had to make some progress.

     I bought some 8 oz cloth for fiberglassing the inside of the icebox, but this just didn't seem like it was going to be as solid as I wanted for the bottom part.  I tend to be a bit clumsy, and sooner or later I know I'm going to drop something in here.  This called for a little but more thickness.  Thankfully I found a big roll of some really thick glass out in the barn left by the previous tenant.  Score!  I'm not sure what it is, other than thick, but the price is right.  It isn't like the typical glass you think of, it isn't matting, and I don't think it is roving.  Its fibers all run in one direction, on an angle, and it has what seem to be little strings running through it holding it together.  It likes to fall apart when you handle it at all, but it seems like it will be much tougher than what I have.

     The inside of the icebox was already sanded, so I just had to clean it up before attempting this.  I used a damp rag to get out the remainder of the dust, and after that dried I used a rag with some acetone to make sure it was all clean and good to go.  I cut out a piece a little bit larger than what I needed and laid it in place and then went at it.

     The picture on the left shows the view from the top out in the cockpit, and the one to its right shows a view from an angle inside the boat.  They were taken before I finished up the edges while I was mixing up some more epoxy.  In the picture on the right you can see up top where there is some overlap.  The thicker stuff is on the bottom and the 8 oz cloth is up towards the top.  I got all the edges wet down and in place as well as glassing the little cut-out on top where the cooler hatch will fit in to place.  Tomorrow I will be going back out ( I hope ) and finishing up the rest of the uncovered areas with the 8 oz cloth.  I will cut pieces to fit on the sides and wet them down.

      All in all this went smoother than I was anticipating.  The corners worked out much better than I had even hoped for.  I'm not going to say I had an easy time, but for my first attempt I am pretty pleased.  I don't think I swore even once, so that has to be a good sign.  After the side pieces are in place and semi-cured I am going to cover all of it with another layer of resin with some sort of sandable filling agent mixed in so I can fair it out nice and smooth to make cleaning easier.  Another thing to buy.  Once that is sanded out ( and I do my second coat to fix my screw ups ) I can paint it and then seal the lid in place.  I'm sure that will involve some more sanding and fitting because of changes the fiberglass is making, but I'm getting closer.

Epoxy work

     I spent most of this lovely day out and about on the water with my wife and dog, but I did manage to do a little sailboat work as well.  I got the top piece to fit a little bit better and then I busted out the epoxy.  I refinished the little cutout I had to put in for the larger hatch and covered the bottoms and sides of the lids and the far right top piece.  This would make more sense if I bothered to take a picture, but my hands were so disgusting that I figured I should wait until later to touch the camera.  Maybe if you are lucky I will put up a picture tomorrow.

Foiled again, and again, and....

     I was hoping to get to the sailboat and spend a couple of hours sanding and fitting on the icebox, but it was just not meant to be.  As I was eating my breakfast this morning the neighbor backed in to the yard and started hooking up the trailer.  I guess today is the day to put the fishing boat in the water.

     Knowing this day was coming I had prepared everything to make sure it went smoothly.  You can guess how well that turned out.  The first problem was that I couldn't find the drain plug.  Aggravating, but easily fixed.  We'll just swing by WM on the way to the launch.  Turns out they only sell them in packs of two.  Sigh...

     We backed the boat in smoothly, but when I turned the key I got nothing.  Couldn't even turn the radio on.  I just charged the battery up over the weekend and it is already shot.  I knew this day was coming so I had thoughtfully charged up the second battery as well.  Hook that one up and nothing.  My day isn't looking so good so far.  How can two just charged batteries be bad?  Thinking it might be the wiring I checked the voltage on it....4V. 

     Thankfully my neighbor has two new batteries he will be installing, so he ran home to get one of those.  After breaking a lug removing the second battery I finally got his in place.  Success!  I putted up the creek to the dock without anything else going wrong.  Amazing.  I took his battery out, went and bought a new one, and put it in.  Of course this involved new connectors and heat shrink because of all the stuff I ripped up during my little adventure.  Never as easy as it could be, is it?

     Once that I got that chore taken care of I figured I would head to the marina.  On the way my friend called and said him and his girlfriend were on their way down.  Guess I need to clean out the cooler and bring it out to the boat.  I needed a nice relaxing rest of the day anyway.  The sailboat is just going to have to wait a bit longer.  This is how I will be spending the rest of my day.  Have I ever mentioned how  much I love my work schedule?

All Three

     I spent a little bit of time on all three boats today.  The kayak got taken out for a little spin, but sadly, I didn't see any wildlife other than ducks this time.  The fishing boat got the swimming ladder installed, so it is ready to be put in the water as soon as the sealant dries.  I'm working tomorrow, but the day after that is looking good.  It's rockfish season after all.

     My time at the sailboat was spent on the icebox, of course.  I got the last of the plywood coverings installed and most of it sanded down.  When I ran out of sandpaper I decided to call it quits for the day.  The next step is fitting everything together to make sure my measurements are correct.  Judging by the way the project has been going so far I have a feeling I will need to make some adjustments.  Once everything is fitted together I will give all the plywood a coating of epoxy to seal them up.  After that I just have to lay the glass inside, paint everything, and close it up.  What a glorious day that will be.  I think the top cooler is going to be put on hold for a while until I get some other things accomplished.  It will be nice to take a break from it.

Overtime

     I signed up for a 3 hour overtime slot this morning and got it.  Then it turned in to 10 hours.  While this is good for the paycheck, it means no boat time today.  Hopefully tomorrow I will dive back in to the icebox.  I'm getting anxious to have this finished so I can move on to other things.

I'm a smurf!

     I spent the day yesterday painting boats and ended up looking like a smurf.  I helped my neighbor paint the bottom of his, and in return he gave me the left over paint and a couple of cold ones.  Being dutch (and a big fan of beer) I just couldn't turn this down.  After we finished his up I moved on over to mine.  I was already blue, so I figured I might as well keep painting.  It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it was going to, but it sure is nice to have it done.  Another couple of days and I'll be out on the water.  It may not be on the sailboat, but it's better than watching everyone cruise past me while I'm in the yard.

On my back

     I spent most of this afternoon on my back underneath the fishing boat scraping paint and last years left over barnacles.  It was so much fun.  I should be painting it sometime this week and getting it in the water by (hopefully) the weekend.  I'm sure the sailboat will be a little neglected for a bit when we put it in for the season, but hopefully not for long.

     I spent a little bit of time at the marina today as well.  I cut out a couple of pieces for the icebox lid and glued some stuff in place.  This part of the project is going very slow.  I can only glue one or two pieces a day and then have to wait until they dry to sand them down.  Once they are all on I can coat them with epoxy, sand them down, paint them, and move on to something else for a bit.