Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend is normally the unofficial start of summer as well as the first day of the boating season. Pretty much all the boats that are going in this year have already left the boat yard, so right now it's me and a couple other boats that are still getting ready. There are another half a dozen boats here too, but they probably won't go in this year.

The weather's great right now, so I've been making pretty good progress. I've patched all the large holes in the cockpit and deck surrounding the cockpit, but still need to sand and finish fairing the last two. I also bit the bullet and removed my two large jib sheet winches. I had replaced the old ones with new larger self tailing ones, but since the holes didn't match up and I was in a hurry, I mounted them with 5200, a permanent caulk that's really hard to take off.

I was only able to get them off by using a 9" putty knife and a hammer. I was able to get an edge in and tap it with the hammer (pretty hard tapping as it turned out) and work it loose. It was tough getting the blade in, but once it was under, I had them off in just a few minutes. The putty knife I used is the kind you normally use for floating dry wall. I use it for spreading the epoxy putty used for fairing. Since it's designed to allow you to spread putty, the blade is very thin and flexible. That's the only reason I was able to get the winches off. My other smaller 4" putty knives were too thick, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to get them off.

Taking them off makes it easier to paint, but I also want to build up the base with some additional fiberglass to strengthen it. It looks like the strain has caused it to deform a bit and since the bolt holes don't match up, the new holes would have weakened it even more. Now I can build it up and make it even stronger than brand new.

I was also planning on building up the locker hatches so that water wouldn't collect and stand in the middle when the boat wasn't heeled, but after taking a closer look, I'd have to build them up over a quarter of an inch. That's way too much. I will even them up a bit and fix where the hinges attach to the lazarette, but that's about it. I'm also going to replace at least one of the latches that's broken, but if I can't get one that matches, I may end up replacing all three.

With any luck, I may be able to start painting tomorrow. I still need to cleanup and sand, as well as fix the drains, but since I can't paint everything at once anyway, I may try to get ready and paint one section per day. I have to mix the paint, it's two part epoxy, so once it's mixed, I have to use whatever I've got, but I also can't mix and handle too much at one time either. I'd planned to use a different color for the non-skid, but have decided to use white for everything. It's much easier. I'm also thinking of using a two part for the top coat as well, but need to look into it a little more. I bought paint a couple of years ago, but am not sure it's really what I want. I think I like the idea of an epoxy, but will have to read up on it first.