Varnishing, varnishing, varnishing, access plate!

January 31, 2016

Over the course of a few days, I have applied a couple coats of varnish on the majority of the brightwork...and managed to install the new access plate in the aft cockpit bulkhead.

To begin with, the access plate was a We$t Marine special - didn't feel like ordering and waiting for arrival, so I just slapped some cash down and said "thank you, may I have another."

The installation was straight forward: set the plate against the existing opening and traced the new outside diameter, I then used a spiral saw to enlarge the hole to accept the new, slightly larger access plate.  Not wanting to go through the task of the final install, I just set the new plate in place and moved on to other tasks that I needed to get through for this lazy Sunday afternoon.

It's nice having "new" onboard...first impressions are so important!

I then turned my attention to the toe rails and rub rails.  In the course of removing the portions of the bungs that stood proud of the rails, I accidentally chipped too much material from a few bungs...leaving a harsh depression in the rail to bung surface.  I decided to remove these three (3) bungs and reinstall new ones...no big deal, easy...moving on.  

Once I replaced the three offenders, I moved into sanding the surfaces of the rails themselves. 

After the rails were sanded and prepared for another coat of varnish, you guessed it!, I applied.  In the process of completing the varnish work on the rails and wanting to move into another project, I neglected to take a photo or two...sorry.  Trust me, they look nice.

The final project for the day was to put another coat of varnish on the inside of the coaming boards.  I decided to do this as I had varnish left over in the pot, no, I am not wasting this stuff!

I sanded the inside surface with 220-grit paper, and then wiped the surface with a solvent to remove all sanding debris.

I then applied the Epifanes, stood back and enjoyed the reflective curiosities.

Total Time: 6 Hours, over a few days

Final Touches on the Bottom; Odds and Ends

January 10th, 2016

Needing to keep things moving forward, I took advantage of a few hours on this Sunday to address the final tasks on the bottom.  In applying the barrier coat and bottom paint, I used the boat stands to keep Alva Anne secure and upright on her trailer, but now that I had the majority of bottom complete it was time to finish the areas hidden by those boat stands.  In the week previous I had again sanded the hidden areas and applied a skim coat of thickened epoxy to further protect a gelcoat in very poor condition.  

I started the day's work by water washing the epoxy application, drying it, and then sanding with the 6" finish sander.  Prior to wiping the surface down with acetone to remove sanding debris, I mixed up the remaining portions of the barrier coat part A and part B.  With the barrier coat mixed and awaiting its required 20-minute induction period, I went ahead and wiped the surfaces down to remove the residue from the sanding.

With the surfaces cleaned and primed, I applied the barrier coat.  With dry weather and a good breeze blowing, it did not take long for the small patches of barrier coat to tack up...opening the window for another coat the barrier paint.  I applied 3 successive coats after the initial application, for a total of 4 coats.

After the fourth barrier coat, I then applied the first coat of bottom paint within the"hot-coat" window to ensure good adhesion between barrier and bottom paint.  The bottom paint was applied in successive coats as well, totaling 4 coats.

A few more pictures representing the application process on the keel: sanding the thickened epoxy fair...

...applying the barrier coat (4 coats)...

...and finally, applying the bottom paint (4 coats). 

 To round out the day, I applied a bit more varnish to the coaming boards, and then cleaned up some of the polysulfide squeeze out on the toe and rub rails.

Total Time: 4 Hrs.

Final Toe and Rub Rail Install & Continued Varnishing

January 9th, 2016 

The day had come for the final installation of the rub rails and the toe rails.  The installation was straightforward and easy:  I applied a Boatlife polysulfide (teak brown) to the underside of the toe rail, and started with the bow for the first fastener.  I had a helper on hand today which makes installation SO much friendlier.  From the bow, I worked my way aft one fastener at a time.  For the rub rail, I duplicated this process. 

The polysulfide had decent squeeze out, but I reapplied in some gaps that did not fully close.  I will wait until tomorrow to remove the squeeze out.

My last task on the rails for the day was to install bungs in the fastener holes.  

Prior to closing up the shop for the day, I wanted to get another coat of varnish on the coaming boards and trim pieces.  I sanded the surfaces with 220-grit paper by hand, and wiped the surface clean with a solvent.

I very slightly thinned the Epifanes varnish and applied.

This coat of varnish is the third; two more coats before installation.

Total Time: 7 Hrs.

Continued Varnishing

January 5th, 2016

After getting home from the office and getting into some better suited clothing, I headed straight to the brightwork.  I sanded all surfaces of the toe rails, rub rails, coaming boards, and miscellaneous trim with 220-grit paper.  After hand-sanding the brightwork, I wiped the surfaces with a clean rag dampened with a solvent.  Finally, I prepared a cup of Epifanes varnish, thinned by roughly 10%, and applied to the brightwork.  The picture below captures the toe rails after the first full coat of varnish. 

Total Time: 2 Hrs.

Repositioning to Complete Bottom; Priming & Varnishing

January 3rd, 2016

Today was a day of odds and ends, some of this and some of that, a little here and a little there...but it all has to get done.  My first task for the day was to reposition the boat stands and blocking so that I could gain access to the unfinished areas on the bottom.  Through a series of maneuvers with the trailer-mounted pads and the jack stands, I was able to re-block the keel and re-engage the trailer-mounted pads to expose the areas previously hidden during the initial application of barrier coat and bottom paint.

After I repositioned the stands and pads, I roughed the bottom with 60-grit pads on the 6" random orbital finish sander.  I also took the bottom paint back to allow a good tie-in with the upcoming application of barrier coat paint.

I progressed through the areas hidden by the boat stands with 60-grit paper.

I finished up at the port bow stand and then turned my attention to the keel.

Keel work hidden by blocking...

I had a block at this location while doing most of the new bottom job, and now I had access to this spot to finish this area.  There were also two spots that required further fill and fair work, but that I had missed in my previous work - likely due to the proximate location to the blocking.

I began with mixing a small batch of epoxy to wet out the areas needing repair, as well as the areas hidden by the boat stands and blocking.

I then mixed up another batch of epoxy and thickened it with a combination of micro-balloons and colloidal silica.

Using a squeegee, I applied a thin layer across the surface of the areas requiring barrier coat and bottom paint.

The thickened epoxy was primarily for the fill work on the keel, but with leftover material I decided to apply to the areas hidden by the boat stands.

Just prior to filling the areas on the keel, I used a grinder and flap wheel and carefully removed the loose material and feathered the edges back to provide a greater surface area for the epoxy to bond with.

I also thoroughly cleaned all these areas with a solvent to prepare for the epoxy application.

Finishing up what I could on the bottom, I then turned to some work in the shop that needed completion.  I started with removing a few bungs with the bandsaw.  I lightly sanded the end of the bung that was attached to its mahogany slab from which it was cut.

The bungs were to seal the 3 screw holes on each of the coaming boards.  These screws were in addition to epoxy-gluing the returns to the coaming boards' forward ends.

I "glued" them in with varnish, and will trim in the coming days.

I was debating whether or not to paint the companionway hatch and cockpit seat locker lids with another coat of primer or to paint them with finish paint (Interlux Perfection).  In the end, I decided to paint on another coat of primer.  In doing this, I also could apply a coat of primer to the underside of the companionway hatch once the topside had sufficiently dried.

I used a foam brush to hit the areas that the foam roller could not.

To finish the day, I sanded the brightwork in the shop with 220-grit paper by hand, and varnished with Epifanes.

These coats were thinned just slightly, perhaps by 5% to 10%, and were laying down nicely.  I will build the coat of varnish up over the coming days and then install on the boat.

Total Time: 6.25 Hrs.

Varnishing Toe and Rub Rails

January 1st, 2016

I set out to do very little on the boat today, but alas, the work schedule over the last week has created good momentum to keep carrying on.  Yesterday's marathon session of painting on 4 coats of barrier paint and 2 coats of ablative bottom paint took its toll on my shoulder and neck - isolated to the right side, being right-handed.  I downed a few ibuprofen and a good breakfast, and was now ready to tackle the toe and rub rails.

My goal for the day was to do the final shaping of the rails and then sand with 80-grit and 150-grit to prepare for that first coat of varnish.  Of course, the shaping and sanding took 75% of the time I allotted to the project today.  I made some notes when I had the rails on the boat in the dry-fit stage: the bottom of the rub rails toward the bow needed some shaping to sit on the hull better.  Using the 6" random orbital finish sander, I completed this portion of the final rail shaping.  Next, I used the 6" sander to create a chamfer on either side of each rail and down the length of the rails.  I used 80-grit paper to then sand the chamfer into a eye-pleasing and toe-pleasing radius.  At the same time I was easing the chamfers, I also sanded the balance of the surface area on each of the rails with the same 80-grit paper.  Finally, I used 150-grit paper and sanded the entirety of each rail.

After the sanding was completed, I thoroughly vacuumed each rail, the work horses, and the patio floor around the work area.  In the final preparation for varnishing, I wiped down each rail with a rag dampened with acetone.  I'm always amazed at how much residual dust is captured with a solvent inspired rag...after vacuuming the surface!

The varnish I am using in Epifanse Clear Varnish.  I thinned this first coat by 50% in order to get a good, deep soak into the mahogany rails.  Successive coats of varnish will be thinned by 5 to 10%, by volume.  The goal is to get a coat on every evening for the next 5 nights.

Total Time: 4 Hrs.