Good with the Bad

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Dave

We have had quite a run of bad weather up here, rain and wind, overcast and cold, oh and fog too. Typical from what I remember.  We had a minor weather related setback the other day but nothing too drastic. All in all we’re making great progress and, weather permitting, should be on track to launch.

We drove to the boat last Sunday and found the cover frame collapsed. The heavy rain pooled up in the tarp and the weight snapped the frame like twigs. Seven hours later we were up and running again (with lots of help of course!):

On a more positive note, the engine plumbing is complete:

 Remote oil filter!

 Exhaust system is complete:

 Hot water heater relocated from under our berth (bed) to the head (bathroom):

 Raw water intake strainer and manifold is finally installed and it fit perfectly:

The raw water manifold allows us to feed water to three areas with only one hole in the boat:

 In preparation for primer and paint, we (Tanya and my Sister) sanded the topsides of the boat:

We really love the dark blue paint but it’s just not practical in warmer climates:

 Once sanded we did our best to wash off all the sanding dust. Tomorrow we will solvent wash the sides to remove the remaining dust:

 This is Tanya’s “I’m so over this” look:

We are waiting on a stretch of good weather in order to prime and paint. We’ll update again soon!

Categories: General | 2 Comments

More Progress

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Dave

The top of the boat is finally painted, what a chore. Now we can move on to the topside and then finish the bottom. We also finished varnishing the interior trim pieces, worked on some plumbing, and a little bit of carpentry to boot. More on that later. For now:

Whenever the weather is bad or we just need a break from the boat work, we have been driving around the coast of Maine doing some site seeing. Maine is really a beautiful state. We can’t wait to visit places like this (via boat):

 

Rocky coast of Maine:

Snorkeling in 48 degree water:

Now the boat stuff. Once we painted the shiny areas we masked them off so we could paint the nonskid areas. The cabin top painting is complete:

 

The decks are painted, this completes the paint on the top of the boat. The top is white, the blue is a refection from the blue tarp over the boat:

 

 The cockpit paint came out quite nice. I just can’t capture the shine with pictures.

We also finished up the varnish on interior trim pieces:

Tanya picked up the last of the hoses for the engine plumbing today. Since there is 100% chance of rain for the next 72 hours, I guess we are working on plumbing the engine…and other things…

More to follow!

Categories: Boat, Refit | Comments Off on More Progress

More Painting

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Dave

We have had little opportunity to paint lately so when the weather is good we are knee deep in it. We were able to apply Awlgrip 545 primer to the entire top, paint and nonskid the cockpit, paint the gunnels, do some varnishing and a few other things to boot. We had to send the muffler back because it was too big, the new one is on the way. The engine control cables (shift and throttle) are routed and should be connected tomorrow. We have been pretty productive. We don’t want anything standing in the way of our splash date.

Cockpit primer:

Primed the cabin top and decks:

Then we painted all the shiny areas of the cockpit. Once the shiny areas are painted then we have to mask them off so we can nonskid the areas we walk on.

The paint came out really nice. All the areas in gray will get white paint with a nonskid additive which will make for sure footing underway:

Very shiny:

This is the cockpit floor. We sprayed two coats of Awlgrip paint then the nonskid additive, then a topcoat of paint. It came out really nice:

This is the engine compartment cover after Tanya cleaned and varnished. It was covered with 34 years of greasy fingerprints (and all manner of things). This is how nice it turned out:

Bob put together the raw water manifold. The manifold will allow us to use one thru hull (rather than three) to supply water to three areas. Very nice piece of gear, can’t wait to put it in.

More to follow!

Categories: Boat, Refit | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

Paint

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Dave

We have had a bit of good weather so we’ve been painting. Most of the cockpit lockers and companionway hatches have been painted. We have also primed the cabin top, well most of it.

The pictures don’t show how nice it came out. The paint is like glass:

Forward companionway sliding hatch:

The paint came out really nice.

Then we moved onto the cabin top

 Ready for some primer:

 

That’s it for now. Hopefully we will complete the cabin top priming tomorrow and paint on Monday…

Categories: Boat, Refit | Tags: | Comments Off on Paint

Every Little Bit Helps!

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Dave

Well, it’s not really a little. We have made some big progress in the last couple of days.

Our engine is back in and bolted down, in what I hope is its permanent position. The drive shaft is in and aligned.

The top of the boat is getting a scrub down then taped off in preparation for primer and paint. This was a huge job, way more so than the engine. We should be finished with the tape and be able to get a couple of coats of primer on tomorrow. Once the top is done we can move onto the top sides.

I’ll try and get a few, before-in between-after, shots in the future.

Categories: Boat, Refit | Comments Off on Every Little Bit Helps!