July 24, 2014

Carol came up for the weekend and we took advantage of the perfect weather by going to an outdoor British car show and the adjacent farmers market.  We picked up some fresh cooked crab right off the boat as well as watermelon and salad makings straight from the farm.  Carol turned it all into a delicious salad that we enjoyed as the sun set.

After Carol left, I continued working on the port side cap rail and also did some finish work inside.  The cured penetrating epoxy on the cap rail was sanded with 220 grit, and three coats of Cetol Marine laid on.  It looks good already, but there’s more to go:  the Cetol Marine will be wet sanded with 220 and then two coats of Cetol Clear Gloss applied.  That will be wet sanded with 400 grit and a third coat of the Clear Gloss applied.

The inside finishing was an example of how projects cascade.  Before my next cruise, I want to try re-configuring the hawse pipe for the anchor chain to see if I can do something about the chain piling up to the point where it needs to be moved manually in order to stow all the chain when weighing anchor.  In order to test my idea, I need to remove the v-berth cushions and cut a hole.  To do that, I need to remount the cabin door which was being stored on the v-berth while I finished the overhead and related trim.  Well, before I can remount the door, I need to refinish the panels around the door and the door jamb.  Soooo…..I sanded and started refinishing all that this week as well as started finishing the few remaining pieces of overhead trim.

I also came up with a nice way to prrevent my newly refinished decks from being damaged by my cheap folding deck chairs.  I had thought about trying to cut tennis balls and sticking them on the chair feet, and happened to run into a similar purpose-made product called Chair Socks.   They look like tennis balls, but are not as well made and come with two slits cut 90 degrees apart to allow them to be slipped over the foot of a chair leg.  I had to cut the slits a little longer to fit over the large feet of my chairs, but that was easy.  Not only do they protect the deck, they are quiet and prevent the chairs from sliding around.   Anything that encourages indolence is good!