4/3/10... Dyeing to Paint Her...

The boys have been working on filling pinholes this week and other "various" type things that need to be done... They haven't taken one picture of what they are doing so, I am left in the dark. :( I can't stand it... Tomorrow is Sunday and after the eggs are all found and the food is all eaten, we will be Cape Canaveral bound and all will be right in the world again. I realize that dyeing hard boiled eggs have nothing to do with painting the boat but, it makes me want to paint her now... right now :) I keep thinking about this summer and being out in the water with the jet skis and staying for days or weeks at a time on her... Maybe now is a good time to think about names... It seems like she should have one before we get her in the water... :)

3/28/10... The Sandstorm Is Over :) Too Bad the Lightening Just Started...

Thank goodness all the sanding is over... Well, the worst part of it anyway. We... well, the A-Team went in Sunday and finished sanding down the remaining bottom paint from the past 30-40 years. I am so pleased the "blisters" were all minimal... a tad digging out with the scraper, a fill with some "filler" (which is being done right now as I type), and all is well. We will be ready for the "barrier coat" this weekend. We are only barrier coating anything below the water line. The rest of the voting parties said this would be sufficient but, from the general tone of the yard, the whole boat should be barrier coated. I don't really know enough about it myself to have a say in the matter but, some googling might be in order.

The past few Sunday's have been rough trying to get the work done before the rain moves in. These storms are blowing up out of no where and causing some slight flooding which is stopping any work in its tracks. This week we endured our first "lightening" storm on the boat. It was really freaky to look up at all the masts in the sky so close together through it. I know there is a grounding cable but, I am not sure how/if it works... or maybe if it only works in water... or maybe we all get fried in the process of the energy moving down the mast and out the back of the boat... some more googling might be in order. The good thing is we have been through two very bad storms and aren't getting any moisture inside the cabin. We have been worried about what the past 3-4 years on the land have done to the seals.

Charlie went to the upholstery shop with the A-Team to check out something for A's boat... When he came out he had a newly designed top cover all planned out... I still don't understand it but, he was very excited.

That's all for now... See you all soon... and keep your fingers crossed... it looks like we will be in the water in less than a month :)

3/21/10... The Sandstorm Just Keeps on Blowing...

Productive weekend? Yes... Enough production? Ehhh, so so... This weekend was supposed to be the sanding blow out weekend on the hull. We really wanted to at least get the bottom paint on by next weekend BUT... as with all the other blogs I have seen around here... there is always one more thing. Hopes are still high and with each step of completion we get a little more motivated for the next step up :)

Saturday is still kind of blurry. Wanting to get an early start sanding on Sunday, the two older of the girls and I went down to stay the night on the boat. They took the comfy galley bed and I slept on folded up sleeping bags in the front on my favorite fiberglass bed... :( They slept well and loved it. My hips and back recovered last time so, I am hopeful they will do the same this time :) The almighty A Team arrived with a massive diesel engine/generator/air compressor thing from one of his job sites. Charlie wasn't able to get out of dodge as early as he wanted but, we went ahead and started to play sand wars ourselves. "A" was able to get most of the unfinished sanding with his DA on the side I had been working on done~ while I worked a trouble spot with the little block sander I have been using. Needless to say, Charlie was impressed and totally surprised when he got there. The men were going to knock out the other side (and got a good start) but, a few inches of rain in about an hour and a half thought otherwise. It appears stick on discs will only fly off the sander once the pads get wet. ;)

We learned we need an extra "layer of protection" by using a barrier coat... after the filling and repairs after the sanding... before the primer and before the paint. We are slowly learning the ins and outs of everything but, hopefully we can stay one step ahead of the game... The boat filling with water is not something I want to learn by trial and error. Have a great week... Enjoy the pics... See you next Tuesday :)

3/15/10... It Did Run Smooth

Maybe Shakespeare had it all wrong. Maybe his course of true love never did run smooth because he did not have an electric dual action (DA) sander. Yes, apparently I can just pull those out of no where and no, I cannot stop :) After I killed myself the day before with the block sander to accomplish what I thought was the greatest improvement to date, I was introduced to the mighty DA sander. The progress made in a few more hours was incredible. I can really see it now. I will hit it up on Saturday again and Charlie will hit the other side on Sunday. We should have the bottom ready to go this weekend. This is huuuuuge for us right now :) We are so happy :)

3/14/10... Smooth Sailing... Without Being in the Water

Today was another huge day for me. I cannot believe that the uneven multiple layers of epoxy fill, paint, and fiberglass evened out like they did. I am so happy with the progress today and can't wait to take it to the next step... I wonder what I can do with a whole day of sanding tomorrow...

3/9/10... Gets the Ridge Out

If Visine gets the red out then what gets the ridge out? Ahh, yes, I do :) I wanted to sand yesterday but, the cabin is starting to gather a collection of tools, supplies, food, blankets, etc. which is starting to get out of control... So day one of my sanding turned into day one of "reorganizing the boat". It looks good, everything is much easier to find, and it feels better overall since it has been done but, I was so sad not to sand...

I didn't really get to "play" around to see what I could do with the sanding the other day. So, I wanted some alone time with just me, a sander, and the girl :) Its easier to make a mistake when you aren't surrounded by people who know what they are doing when you don't. I used the block sander and set it against various parts of the boat. The vibration was too much to take while trying to hold the sander in the right position "in order to get to" the sand spots so, I started on the line... You know... the line that is supposed to mark the water line on a sailboat but is pretty much always located two or so inches above the water line... Maybe it is so if you jump really hard in a boat it still stays above the water line...

Maybe I should go into a little boat paint explanation here... Above the water line is a very thin remaining top coat with some other powdery coat in various places. The water line was painted six different colors with a little blue painters tape still left between the deep red and the blue. The top color of the water line is the start of the bottom paint now. The bottom paint is three different layers with a few spots of a very shiny black in spots up under the layers. Now, take all of that and add various fillers... epoxy, fiberglass, and don't forget the silicone... but... when you picture the fillers don't picture them sanded or finished prior to painting if they were painted... picture them just kind of slapped on the side of the boat and allowed to dry... and for the back of the boat slap a layer of the hard epoxy stuff over the entire back of the boat... and make that thin protective layer about 1/8" -1/4" all over... but, remember don't sand it smooth anywhere ;)

The most logical place for me to start was the water line because it was the perfect height and at the time appeared to need the most work. I sanded... I scraped... I scraped and sanded... I sanded and scraped... I figured out halfway through it was easier to scrape, sand, scrape, sand, etc. until it was even. I also learned very quickly to work the sander in a straight up and down motion going along with the curve of the boat. Once I got it figured out, it went fast (all the way down in about an hour) BUT... then I noticed all the scratches, scrapes and imperfections on the surface... mainly from the sander... soooo... I got out the 320 grit sand paper and hand sanded out all of the spots... The finished result was nothing short of amazing. I never imagined the line to be that smooth and perfect with no additional work.

The best part of this day and my magic line was the accidental sanding of the bottom paint. I accidentally went down 3"-4" past the water line in section just over a foot long. I didn't mean to. While I was working on smoothing the line the other part of the sander was working on this spot. I didn't even realize it until I was taking pictures towards the end of the day. The incredible thing about this is that until now, it was going to be scuffed up on the bottom and the new paint would be applied to that. Who is going to care? It's bottom paint. The part of the boat that will never really be seen. Ok... yes, I care... OCD care. This little spot of very smooth finish on an impossible finish was enough to get everyone involved in the lets strip it to the bottom on the bottom movement.

3/6/10... The Sandstorm Starts

"Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn."..."So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn't get in, and walk through it, step by step. There's no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That's the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine." ~Haruki Murakami

Well, we had everything we needed... the DA sander... the air compressor... sand paper discs... and us, all 6 of us at times. My job was to go up to the top and scrape (with a flat head screwdriver... I very quickly requested a scraper from the store though) all of the silicone off, out, and from around the bumper guard and rail... It took forever but, it is done and will never have to be done again, not like that anyway. The air compressor wouldn't hold enough pressure to hardly use the DA. So, we tried to hook it up to the generator thinking maybe the power outlet just didn't have enough umph in it. When that didn't work, they took two air compressors and linked them together and ran them both off the generator... It still wasn't strong enough. So everyone fooled around with scrapers and got a fair amount of the flaky stuff off... We have a good start for the "next" storm. Hopefully I get some alone time in the near future to dabble in the sanding. I know how much of a boring process it is to sand something down and I know how easy it is just to give in and cut corners because you are tired of dealing with it... I think if I can make something amazing happen it might re energize all of us :)

3/3/10... Tuning in Early

The boys went to play on the boat today. It appears we have a new radio :) We haven't gotten anything else going yet but, we have a radio... and I am pretty happy for it. It will make the long days go faster. Now... If I can only remember to bend down a little when I walk from one compartment to the next... I couldn't even begin to tell you how many times I have nailed my head!

3/2/10... Carbonated Polyurethane

Looking at the pics of the wood, I can see the bubbles. From here it looks kind of like ginger ale... slightly yellowish brownish with lots of tiny bubbles. In my effort to be funny, I thought carbonated polyurethane would make a funny and somewhat clever title until I googled it and discovered carbonated polyurethane is a real thing. But now my brain is frozen and the cleverness has seeped right out of me so the title sticks. This is the fourth sand down and the fourth coat... hmmmm... Not really sure how to fix this... I will be 20 coats of back and forthh if I keep going. Maybe I should google it... Google seems to know everything :)

2/26/10... Hmmmm Day 2

We didn't really do anything too productive today. Every little bit helps though. We wired up the radio but only temporarily. We took the remainder of the wood out to bring it back to the home front to refinish it. We measured for all the cushions and had a "discussion" as to what all would be covered with what. Good for us, we agree on it all :) We cleaned up a little and I am pretty sure that was it :)

2/24/10... Bursting my Bubble

I started to polyurethane some of the wood pieces tonight. I don't know why the poly is bubbling so bad. My coats are thin. The product is good. We stripped the wood down totally so, the surface prep was good too. It is cold and raining out side but, it feels ok in here. That must be it. Even with the few bubbles left to sand out, the poly really made the wood look incredible. Following what appears to be standard on the boat yard, we used a gloss on the outside wood and a semi on the inside pieces.

2/21/10... Bump in the Night? Willy?

Today was my first day for solo work without the man around. I am tired of the drive back and forth all the time... Sooooo... I figured we should stay the night on the boat. Why not??? It's just like camping kind of. The only thing that bothered me was the remaining mildew and other general nastiness the boat still had... This would be the third (I think) time she has been bleached and wiped... It gets better each time but, number one Charlie only lets me use so much bleach before he starts to get bothered by the fumes and number two we are never there long enough to actually get to the bottom of an entire area. Today was going to be my day to scour the front of the cabin so, we could sleep in it.

I was pleased that all of the mildew was able to be cleaned completely from the front of the cabin. I was also pleased that the eye sore stains had 95% lifted and left clean in it's place. On a Willy note, the man needed some silicone anonymous help. I know that a tube of silicone is important on a sailboat for so many reasons buttttt, Willy had coated his entire boat with it... inside, outside, over paint, over windows, secured hatches closed... yes, and most important use, place 1/4" silicone over any area where you see mildew. Over time, you will be amazed at the smell that can be created when you scrape the moldy silicone off.... ummmm yummm. :(

Sleeping on the boat for the first time??? Hmmmm... Very happy for the space heater Charlie brought along. We even had to open the hatch during the night to cool off a bit. BUT... no matter how many comforters, sleeping bags, quilts, pillows, and jackets you lay down in an effort to soften a bed of molded acrylic or fiberglass or whatever it is... it is NEVER soft. We tossed and turned through the majority of the night and did sleep through more than we thought we would. The wind was pretty brutal. You could hear every rig hitting up against something for the entire night... Some of the noises even echo. (Almost sounds like someone walking around on the deck.) It must have sounded like that to Charlie too because he asked in the middle of the night if Willy was alive or dead... I blurted he was alive because the thought of his ghost haunting the boat at that point was unbearable to me. I confessed the next morning I didn't know about Willy. Maybe I should look into it :)

2/19/10... We Wood Love To!

Well... it has been pretty much decided that we will use whatever we can still left on the boat. Not only is it a money break but, it helps her keep a little character she has been building over the years. We met up at Charlie's workshop to work on the wood and see what she could still pull off with a little help. We were surprised (we shouldn't be at this point) at how nice the wood came out. We had to go anywhere from 1/8" to 1/4" down on each piece of wood to get past the dirt, stains, and muck but, they cleaned up incredibly well. Charlie showed me how to polish some of the metal accessories with the Dremel. Let me just say now, this was quite possibly one of the coolest things I have done so far on the project. I have decided I now need a Dremel of my own. It makes you want to walk around town and see what you can make new again :) We stained a few pieces too... but, the poly will have to come another time :)

2/18/10...Bleach Bum

We were on a mission today and had more lined up than it was possible to complete... Today had huge potential to become a hmmm day but once we started, the drastic results motivated us to keep pushing and see what we could do with her with just a little elbow grease.

When we came the other day (for pressure washing), Charlie asked me to pull all of the contents from one compartment out (looking aft starboard side). While trying to reclaim some of these items, I had to actually crawl in this small dark space. It was covered in dirt, dead bugs, mildew, water, etc. I got caught up in some ropes that I had tossed out which landed across my feet... I guess in all of my squirming to get all the way up in there, I loosely bound my feet together... The even funnier (now funny... then screaming) part of this moment is the boys were pressure washing from the outside... with everything being opened on the boat, I was also getting a shower throughout my adventure... I pretty much decided at that point this compartment would be the first thing that would be gutted and cleaned.

With the aid of the shop vac, a bottle of Clorox Clean Up, a bag of shop rags, elbow grease, and alot of shuddering at all of the things I was placing my hands (and body) in, the compartment was cleaned. This was the first time we actually saw the potential condition of the interior of the cabin. The surface was clean, shiny, and free of scratches, dings, or anything... It looked incredible. We were both so encouraged with the out come and started to go through the rest of the boat in little "testing" sites to see how that area would come out.

We also took a few pieces of wood from miscellaneous places on the boat. The plan is to take them back home sand, stain, and poly them... It was also pretty much decided today that I would have full control of the inside and Charlie would take all of the responsibility for the out. We rolled up the rest of the ropes/cords and stuck them in compartments so, they wouldn't be strung out all over the place tripping everyone who stepped on the boat... We took off the sad hatch that was falling apart a little more everyday. We went up to Lowe's and got a pretty piece of birch to cut out the new one. We used the old piece as the template but, it still didn't fit exact. It was close enough to take it back to the house, round out the edges a bit, and try again.

2/16/10... Hope for a Better Tomorrow

Today was a huge day for us... Charlie and a friend pressure washed the outside and I started the initial detox of the cabin including the window scraping. I am not sure if it is "common" in the "Boating" world to actually glue paper to the windows but, it was a challenge to get it off. Her whole look changed today and gave us a renewed hope for what she is becoming. We still have no regrets and look forward to each new step with her. We can't wait to get her into the water though... and she still needs a name. I sure wish I had taken the water inside the cabin pics before... They would surely look different compared to this point. I can't believe how much better she looks already :)

On a Willy note, we discovered today that he was a painter... oil/canvas type painter. He had a homemade color wheel with blended colors of different saturation. I would think that if he was good enough to have his own wheel like that taped to the inside of the cabinet, he must have been a good painter :)

2/14/10... Hmmmm Day

What is a hmmmm day? It is a day when you wake up saying I am going to do this and this and this and this... etc... BUT, then you get there, look at it, pick up a few pieces of trash, gather up a few ropes/cords, take a few pictures, get totally overwhelmed, then go home. I imagine we will have lots more of these days. I keep repeating - this is fun... it is a hobby... do what you want to when you want to do it... We are exhausted. We have been commuting about 5-6 hours a day plus, Charlie had an emergency trip Fort Pierce and we have both made a few trips to Orlando...

2/13/10... Our Smelly Pool

First things first... we have to make it a boat again instead of a swimming pool/jacuzzi... I can't believe I don't have any pictures of the boat with all of the water inside of it. For some reason the boat looked worse today than it did before. We were able to get all the way inside and the mildew was much much more than I originally thought... I will spare you the smell description... You can probably imagine that part. With a little help from the shop vac, the water was out.

The boat history has started to come together though. It appears our girl was inhabited by "Willy", an older gentleman with a few screws knocked loose with age. Willy had lived on this boat forever. I am not sure how forever was meant but I can account for the last 9-12 years. Willy's boat was in a slip for 3-4 years until he woke with water in the cabin one day. At that point, they pulled the boat up into the yard, fixed the loose hose, and left him onshore per his request. He stayed onshore for 3-4 years until his kids decided he wasn't safe remaining there by himself at that point in his life... It could have had something to do with the aliens. :) If you ask me, it was only fitting for Willy to have such a close connection with aliens being he was so close to the Cape for so long. Anyways, Willy had two ladders set to get up onto the Coronado... One in the front for everyone (including himself) and one in the back which was specifically for the aliens... No one else was allowed to use it.

First Glance... 2/11 & 2/12

We got the phone call on Thursday about a 25' Coronado for next to nothing... Too good to be true? Probably... Especially because the sail boat in the picture (left) looked pretty good. So with both of us sick as anything, we set out the following morning for the three hour drive. The universe may have been trying to throw some signs our way with the rain/wind/lightening/hail/etc. we had to drive through... But, we hadn't been on a road trip in a while and both were looking forward to the little bit of escape that was coming.

Once we arrived, she wasn't hard to spot. She was at the end of the first row right when you turn into the boatyard. There wasn't anyone around who worked there that we could find and we ended up waiting about an hour and a half before someone finally showed up... We had fun entertaining ourselves in the meantime though. We walked around a bit. It was sooo cold and wet we decided to stick it out in the truck. We ran up to the store, looked at other boats, and then walked back over in the cold rain to see her again. She had been badly neglected, not damaged but, severely neglected. We didn't have to open the hatch to look into her because it had already been left open for quite some time... Well, I am guessing that because of the amount of water that was in the boat itself. The mildew was unbearable and I was dreading even thinking of how to get it all out. She was sad and ugly but, sound. So, right there pretty much without having to say anything we bought her.