November 29, 2012

Had a nice holiday weekend in LA with Carol.  Delightful Thanksgiving dinner with my cousin and her daughters, daughter's boyfriend and his two bulldogs.  Saw the new Bond movie and had fun picking up a few things at Koontz Hardware, a huge hardware store that carries lots of unusual things.

The work week was shaped by a chess game with the weather.  I finally managed to finish and temporarily install the two refurbished louvered vents after weeks of sanding, filling, sanding filling, priming, filling, sanding, filling, priming, painting, sanding, painting, sanding, painting, etc.  Unfortunately, one of the two "final" coats of Cetol on the cockpit coaming was damaged when the rain came a little too soon.  Why one and not both?  Go figure.... Not a huge deal to sand and recoat when the weather allows.  

With several days of unsettled weather in the forecast, I went back to work inside the aft cabin and started work on the small head.  While the job is nominally inside, I still need to do some cutting and milling outside in the cockpit, which makes things a bit challenging.  If the weather gets bad enough to put a stop to that work, I have a few other backup projects to work on.

With the onset of winter, there are more beautiful sunrises and sunsets, but far fewer flowers.

November 22, 2012

It was a short week this week thanks to the Thanksgiving holiday.  I continued the seemingly endless cycle of sanding and painting the louvered vents only to decide after two coats that the Sundown Buff was the wrong color.  So, after wet sanding, I laid on a coat of Hatteras Off White, which will ultimately match the paint on the cabin and deck (whenever that gets done).  It will need another coat or two to cover (wet sanded between coats), but I can already tell it will look much better than the brown, which made the vent stand out like a big square blemish.  (Sundown Buff is more like the darker brown seen in the first photo.)  I also continued laying on the Cetol on the cockpit coaming.  I sanded the third coat of the Cetol Marine prior to putting on the first coat of Cetol Gloss.  I expect I'll put on another coat of the gloss, sand it, and then put on a "final" coat.  It's looking good enough to spur me on to doing more of the teak trim, especially if I can get Jordan to do some of the sanding.

This week's bonus project was finally coming up with a place and method to store my two trolling rods.  It was tougher than it sounds...no place was long enough to accommodate them or if it did, they would really be in the way, ugly, or both.  Once I came up with the right spot (under the awning and doghouse overhead) and method, the doing was easy; a thirty minute job.  I'll have to remount the eye straps after I finish the overhead for the doghouse, but that's no big deal.

Well, it will soon be time to head out with Carol for the Thanksgiving Day feast at my cousin's place.  I'm looking forward to a bit of gluttony and a good time.  And I have a lot to be thankful for, including having a day NOT spent sanding!  Have a great Thanksgiving!

November 15, 2012

I suppose I might be accused of dinkering again this week.  Hmm...I always thought that meant tinkering with the dink.  Anyway, I was involved with continuing some projects and launching into others.  Rain is threatening again, adding impetus to the shift to winter mode.  So, in addition to what's shown in the photos, I cut down the leftover 9-foot lengths of oak battens to 6 and 3 footers that I can keep dry in the back of my truck..  I won't need anything longer for what I still plan to do.  The holidays are also coming up fast, and Carol has planned the usual full agenda for us.

November 8, 2012

Most of the work this week was devoted to continuing the refurbishing of the teak on the cockpit coaming and the construction of two drawers.  I sorely missed my shop while trying to construct decent drawers without my cabinetmaker's saw!  At least I was able to find some prefinished drawer sides with the groove for the bottom pre-cut.  Of course they had to be cut down to fit.

I also continued to build coats of varnish on the fiddles for the large shelf in the starboard quarterberth and the small shelf forward of the quarterberth.  I had been saving the sanding of the louvered vents for Jordan, but he never showed.  I was about to write him off when he called to tell me he had narrowly escaped being hit by a car while on his bicycle, took a tumble and injured his hand.  Despite the injury and the uncooperative weather, I still hope be able to get some help from him.

I went to visit Carol in LA over the weekend and as usual had a jam-packed and fun time.  We went to a short films festival, saw the Space Shuttle in its new home at the Science Museum, and I ate mass quantities of Carol's delicious homemade lasagna.  Even got to bring some leftovers home!