February 27, 2014

Between the rain and having to take care of Carol after she had some minor surgery (paybacks are hell!), accomplishments were limited this week.  Nonetheless, after about a dozen coats of varnish, I finally finished and mounted the backing plate covers for the port side and the bottom edge trim.  I was happy to be able to get started on the remaining overhead trim that couldn't be fit until the backing plate covers were in place.  Also took care of a few minor tasks not worth mentioning while coats of varnish dried.

 

February 20, 2014

I continued working on the chain plate backing plate covers and the trim for the port cabin side.  After sanding the old trim piece and getting a couple of coats of Epifanes RapidCoat on it, I remounted it.  Next I cut some bungs to hide the screw holes from scrap jatoba (which is redder and darker than teak) to better match the already stained trim.   After inserting, trimming and sanding the bungs, it took some careful sanding and staining with RapidCoat to make an unnoticeable blend.  After four cycles of sanding and coating with RapidCoat, it's ready for gloss varnish.  During this time I was also applying coats of Epifanes Clear Gloss finish to the remaining covers for the backing plates.   After four coats they are ready for sanding and the final coat or two.

While the varnish was drying I took care of a few little projects such as cleaning fenders and improving my main anchor connections.  Of course I also took some time off for a nice Valentine's Day holiday at Carol's!

February 13, 2014

I continued to plug along working on the trim for the overhead and the backing plate covers.  I'm eager to get the covers done so I can do the rest of the overhead trim.  The necessity to avoid making dust while applying finishes limits what I can do sometimes.  I'm driven to work out more or even indolence on occasion!

Happy Valentine's Day!

February 6, 2014

I'm enjoying the first real rain of the season as I write this.  We certainly need it!  I spent the week working hard to finish up the covers for the chainplate backing plates on the starboard side, get the unfinished overhead trim finished and remounted, and get started on the backing plate covers on the port side.  I've gotten better and more efficient at fitting the covers, but I'm not sure I like the white screw covers.  They are also available in brown, and I might get a couple and see if I like them better.  Even though there is still a LOT of trim to do, it's looking more like a yacht each week!