sealed up

All stanchions refitted, sealed and (hopefully) watertight again.... Genoa bolts pinched back up with sealant, and on one side, the bolt heads on the genoa track smeared to add another layer of water resistance. Didn't have time to smear sealant on the other genoa track, as it was already gone 5pm... so it'll have to wait until next time... may also run a bead of sealant around the base of the track a final 'belts and braces'

I reckon there are 4 or 5 other deck fittings that are slightly leaky, so they'll get lifted and resealed. None of them are 'leaking' as such, but the bolts are getting damp, so dealing with them now will avoid future problems.

Then... home....

....and trying to clean my hands..... Sikaflex is evil stuff.... scrubbing brush didn't work... so tried white spirits... nope.... so went for the hard stuff... nail varnish remover (or acetone if you prefer).... nothing!.... eventually, they looked a bit more acceptable, and I had to stop as they were bleeding from scrubbing them. Work will just have to cope with me having slightly grubby paws!

port side done too!

All the doors in on the port side of the saloon too... really pleased with the result!

saloon doors

starboard side saloon doors back in.... excuse the mess... its a work in progress!

Another day of progress

Today, we spent the entire day removing stanchions and genoa track bolts... and we're done.

The cold evening, and also cooking onboard meant that everywhere was a bit humid, with condensation sitting on the headlining.... so I spent 2 hours with a hot air gun getting everywhere really dry, before starting to refit/tighten bolts with lots of sealant.... and then the sealant gun fell apart!!!!

So.... i'll get another gun tomorrow, but bet I have to re-dry everything in the morning :(

So, regardless, we're currently preparing a nice hot curry!

While that is in progress, i've started fitting the nice varnished doors... and they look great!... will fit a few more after tea. Pic to follow of saloon doors fitted so far.

rusty bolts and skinned knuckles

Having arrived down at the boat late friday evening, have spent all day removing the bolts that hold the genoa tracks and stanchions on.... or at least some of them... two thirds of the way down one side.

As ever, a few came out really easily, and a few stubbornly refused. One in particular ended up with me having to cut the nut off with a hacksaw... and as you would expect, the nut was buried in the most awkward and inaccessible location...

It also involved a substantial amount of dismantling of furniture to get at the nuts, so right now, the boat looks worse than when I got here, with bits of odd wood scattered all over the place, and all the guard wire on one side laying on the deck!

So, why?

Because, these things always leak on older boats, so replacing the bolts, along with a good amount of decent sealant is really good preventative maintenance, and also deals with the few that were weeping slightly, and allowing small damp patches to appear.

So, hopefully, should be all done by the time I leave monday afternoon, and a few more minor leaks dealt with, and a nice consistent set of bolts holding stuff down on deck, rather than the current mix and match!

and rest....

31 doors in their final matt finish.... yessss!

now to start fitting the shiny new hinges.

Its even looking like the weather is perking up a little for the weekend, so hoping that I can get up the mast and get the VHF aerial, the wind instrument sender and the new LED tricolour fitted... got to get the cable down the mast... bet that'll be fun!

Still putting off that engine rewire!

finishing the sole

I've spent ages researching what to recoat the sole boards with.... its a tough environment... regular foot traffic, often wet, needs to not be slippery when wet, and on to a wood that is naturally oily (teak).

I've had more advice than you can imagine....

I've ended up with a decision t use finishing oil. Designed for wet environments, such as kitchens and bathrooms, gives a lovely shiny or matt finish depending upon how you apply it, is hard wearing, easy to apply, and easy to add another coat as and when needed.

Will see how it goes...

I also need to do more work on the sole... its getting there, but suspect that the finishing oil will show every little remaining finish... so it must be really back to bare wood.... another sanding session coming on!

Just for reference, i've settled on Liberon Finishing Oil if anyone is interested.

varnishing.... lessons learned

I've today sanded all 31 doors ready for their final coat. That's on top of stripping back almost the entire interior of Phoenix and revarnishing.

Along the way, i've learned a fair bit about how to get good results with varnish!.. here's the benefit of my experience...

Preparation, preparation and preparation.... without it, the end results will NEVER be as good as you'd like... want that glass like finish?... prep and more prep... once you've sanded it back to clean good wood, do it again. And then once more. You can never over prepare. (I guess the one exception is when you're varnishing a veneer... don't sand through it!)

I start with varnish remover... I use Nitromors... I tried others, and they either don't work as well, or leave a stick residue. Various people advise scrapers, rather than remover. I find it nearly impossible to avoid damaging the surface with small scratches.... and that just means more sanding. I do however scrape gently to remove the Nitromors. Despite what it says on the tin, I find that you hardly need to leave it any time.. 5mins is plenty, and then a second coat.. another 5 mins and you are ready. A set of scrapers of different shapes and profiles helps... and keep them reasonably sharp... a small file helps here... also round off the corners of flat scrapers... stops you accidentally marking the wood.

Next comes fine wire wool. Be methodical. Follow a pattern to make sure you've not missed anything.... when the dust lays on the surface its easy to do so.

Then brush the dust off... I use a large 4 inch brush kept specially for his purpose.... now its remove the dust time.... don't get carried away at this stage... a quick brush up is enough.

Then 150 grade sandpaper... I use a power sander... the sort designed for detail sanding... a gentle run all over...

another brush up...

Then a final fine sand with a 200 ish grade....

Then brush up... now get the hoover out... open up the boat, get a breeze through... work from the top of the boat down with the 4 inch brush and knock the dust off everywhere.... it will be everywhere!

Brush and hoover again... then brush and hoover again.... this takes a long while... you NEED to remove as much of the dust as you can... the dust ruins the finish.

Finally, wipe the wood down with white spirit. Don't use water as it raises the grain and spoils the lovely flat finish you've created.

After this, final effort is to use a tack rag to remove the very last remnants of dust.

Now for the good bit... the varnishing...

I use Epifanes Tung oil varnish... gives a lovely finish in my opinion.

A really good quality brush with natural bristles... if its new, I brush the wood with it for half an hour first, dry to wear the bristles in... (you did say you wanted the perfect finish didn't you?)

Then the first coat 50% thinned...

let this coat dry thoroughly... it can take several days if its cool, but when its warm, i've found it dry in 24hrs... watch for corners etc, where remains will stay tacky for longer....

Once dry, I give this first coat a VERY light sand with 400 grade paper to just knock any dust nibs off....

and then brush, hoover, air through the boat, tack rag etc etc

Second coat is 25% thinned..... repeat above advice.....

Third and fourth coats are unthinned... sand and then brush etc between

Final coat.... if its to be gloss, then 10% thinned and put it on carefully avoiding a drying edge...

if its matt (again, I use the Epifanes Brush effect matt varnish), then I don't thin...

More coats is good.... for feature woodwork, i've gone up to 6, but i've heard tales of people putting a dozen or more coats on. One thing's for sure, the more coats you use, the glassier the finish.

I finally have discovered that the varnish takes several weeks to go truly hard... so treat it with care for a while.

And, if you can put the effort in, you'll get a glorious finish....

Now, i'm off to varnish 31 doors for the 5th time.

Sandpaper frenzy!

The sole boards are half back to bare wood, and the seat bases of the saloon berths have a shiny white new coat...

Miserable weather though... May give in tomorrow and go home to finish the cupboard doors instead... Too wet and windy here to do much...

And on, and on...

It's the table's turn.... Back to bare wood.... Tomorrow the sole board begins (that's the floor for you landlubbers!).

Anything to put off getting the engine rewired and started!