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 :)