July 31, 2014

It was a good news/bad news week.  The good news was that I finished the port side cap rail, the overhead trim and the wood around the door to the v-berth.  I also covered an exposed screw head and scarf joint by the forward cleat with sheet bronze.  The bronze will hide the exposed screw head, protect the scarf joint and provide chafe protection for the finish.  The bad news:  I got in a fender bender and it looks like the end for my faithful truck.  While the damage doesn't look that bad, the body shop found frame damage and the repairs will likely be more than the truck is worth.  I have used the back of the truck as storage, so the next couple of weeks will likely see me spending a lot of time cleaning out, moving stuff and reorganizing.  Not what I had planned.  Not a big deal in the long run, but a major hassle in the short term.

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!

July 17, 2014

After a nice weekend here with Carol, I spent a couple of days on a little writing project for my former employer.  It was interesting to be back in the harness for a couple of days...made me appreciate my freedom!  In the time remaining I continued working on the cap rail.  I was able to get one more section stripped, sanded and sealed with penetrating epoxy.  I also repaired several cracks and dings in the rail by filling them with WEST System epoxy thickened with 405 filler. The WEST 405 filler is a pretty close color match with dark teak and is strong enough to act as an adhesive.  After the epoxy set, it was sanded smooth and the sanded area re-sealed with Smith's penetrating epoxy.  The repairs are hardly noticeable, and will look even better after a couple of coats of Cetol which has some tint in it.
One more section to go on this side (port), and it all will get sanded again, with 220 grit, prior to starting the Cetol finishing process.

July 10, 2014

Spent the holiday weekend in LA with Carol.  Pretty low key:  saw a movie, went to the LA Maritime Museum and tracked down Peggy Slater’s house on the cliff in San Pedro.  Ate a lot of good food too.

With the cabin and decks looking good, the teak cap rails looked especially bad with their peeling varnish and discolored wood.  Time to start refinishing!  I did one section at a time.  The basic process was to strip off what remained of the old finish using a heat gun and scraper, sand with 80 and 120 grit sandpaper, wipe down with acetone and seal with penetrating epoxy.  So far I've done about sixty percent of the port side.  When I complete those steps on that side I will sand it all again with 220 grit, apply three coats of Cetol Marine, sand it again with 220, apply two coats of Cetol Gloss, sand again with 400 grit, and apply a “final” coat of Cetol gloss. I have found that process results in a finish much more durable than varnish, but still looks like varnish rather than the dull and too-orange look that results from too many coats of Cetol Marine. Then I get to start on the other side.  A lot more to do, but at least it all shows!