Man plans; God laughs. It was a frenetic work week as I scrambled to get everything ready for the contractor who is going to prep and paint the deck, cabin and cockpit. It was only a series of delays caused by his need to finish an earlier job and his truck breaking down that allowed me to finish up the seemingly endless series of tasks that needed to be done before he started. Lots of removing and stowing gear, removing hardware, vacuuming and pressure washing. The final project was refinishing the badly weathered teak handrails, mast base and cockpit gratings. Because most of it was in such bad shape, sanding it smooth and varnishing it wouldn't leave enough wood to make sense, and besides, I wanted to preserve the non-slip quality of the rough wood. So, I decided to bleach, brighten, stain and seal it. Instead of paying $40 for Teka or another two-part marine teak cleaner/brightener, I used bleach and oxalic acid (in the form of FSR-Fiberglass Stain Remover gel) at a cost of about $12. Works just as well. The finish is Primo Teak Sealer, a thin stain/sealer similar to Semco, but containing epoxy. It has held up well so far in the shelter of the cockpit. The handrails will be tougher test.
Hector, my canvas-maker, is coming Saturday to fit a new sail cover and an Isenglass cover for the seeping skylight in the doghouse roof. Jose is scheduled for Monday morning to start on the prep and paint work. It's going to be a long and "interesting" process that should result in some major improvements in Circadian's cosmetics!
