Cold Spell

This isn't supposed to be a weather blog, but I find myself compelled to write about the weather once again. The highs for the next few days will only be in the high 50's to low 60's. I really can't paint or do any glass work when it's that cold, but I might be able to do a few other things, e.g., sanding, caulking, etc..

I didn't quite finish sanding the deck last night and didn't have time to do any touch up painting, but I did fill the holes for the extra winch on the starboard side of the coach roof. It was still relatively warm when I filled them, but since it normally takes several hours for it to fully cure, the temperature had already fallen well below 60 before that could happen. In fact, it was still tacky this morning. I used the heat gun to warm it up and at least the skin is dry to the touch now, but I'm not sure about the entire mass. I filled 4 holes for the winch, 2 holes for the clutch, and another 4 holes further forward for the deck organizer -- a flat block mounted on the deck to turn the line from the mast to line it up with the clutch and winch.

It's still below 60 right now, so I'm warming the cabin, and underside of the deck, with an electric heater. Hopefully it will all kick today, but I think it's probably good enough to sand already. If I can get it up to the mid 60's for a few hours, that should be good enough. The high today is only supposed to be around 61.

Boat watch:

Other than finishing up the sanding, I'm not sure what I'll try to do today. I was thinking of trying to caulk the toerail, but I haven't finished preparing it and it might be too cold for caulk anyway. I guess I'll mostly just sand. Unfortunately, my orbital sander started making strange noises yesterday. I think the bearings are going out. I'm not sure if it's still under warranty, but I'll try to find the paperwork and check sometime today. At least I got the bulk of the sanding out of the way before it started to go.

I also need to trim the mast and build up the step, but don't think that will take long. I'll try to do it this week so I can make the step out of fiberglass while the weather's still warm enough for it to kick properly -- the average highs drop below 60 toward the end of the month, so I only have a few more good weeks I can count on. I might also try a different type of epoxy. I'm using West System, but haven't been all that impressed with it. Apparently, there are better ones out there that are both cheaper and work better -- West System has a blush issue. I switched to the slow hardener when the weather got hot earlier this summer, but will go ahead and switch back to the fast stuff now. It not only cures faster, but you can use it in cooler weather as well.

Crew watch:

Brian just dropped by to talk about maybe going down south with me. He's got a friend who might want to go as well. I still don't know when she'll be ready to go in the water or when I might be ready to leave, but he said he and his friend would be willing to help me finish her up. I could use help on the painting, i.e., tipping, but help remounting the hardware would really speed things up -- the weather is the thing that's holding up the painting.

Zoe watch:

She's on the boat today due to the cold weather. However, it's starting to warm up, so we may take a walk later and if it's warm enough, I'll leave her down there while I sand.