The Icing

Due to the very unpredictable inclement weather conditions, anything portable now gets painted hanging from the ceiling in the cargo hold. Here, I was painting the 8 - 10 pieces of the inside (water cooled) generator, to prepare them for re-installation. First they got a coat of Amerlock, then a topcoat of Rustolem. I was in heaven painting with the Rustoleum because it is oil based, does not need to be mixed like epoxy, and does not cure while you are using it! The large piece to the right of me is the tray for the generator that Tamer built to fit down into the bilge, to the starboard and right of the engine.

This area is where the old pilot house used to attach to the cabin top. It was blown off during Hurricane Wilma.... Much to our relief because we were going to remove it anyway :-)

One of the things that the installation of the old pilot house taught us, is that you really do not want to mate wood and steel without REALLY good surface preparation. The serious pitting in this area was because they applied the wooden pilot house directly to the steel. Unfortunately the only way to properly prepare the pitted areas is with a while brush on the grinder (as shown). It is a lot more strenuous than a flap disc or standard grinding disc, and spews out little pieces of wire that stick into your skin. Fun, fun, fun :-)

The cockpit, ground and osphoed.... As a reference, this area took about 6 1/2 of straight grinding, then 1/2 hour of Ospho application and sanding block removal the next day. Then it has to be cleaned with zylene and painted with 3 coats of amerlock, which is about 2 -3 hours of work. So, this small area with no difficult surfaces, takes about 9 - 10 hours to finish.

Opposite of the cockpit, I had finished a few days prior....The hatches you see in the lower part of the picture, are the last 2 to be finished!

My plan is to have all of the deck surfaces prepared and waiting for their 3 coats of Rustoleum before we leave in the middle of July. All of the areas will have to be sanded when we return in early October, but hopefully there will be NO grinding!

WOW!! This is what things look like after Laura does her magic. I couldn't ask for a better partner in this project, much less in life. Thank you so much, Laura!

The aft starboard corner of the back deck..... Done! I have been apprehensive about the 110 feet of gunnels, short for gunwales (the area that raises above the deck). There are some very hard to access areas up under the top rail that can only be done with a grinder while you are in yoga like positions.... Anyway, 10 feet done, only 100 to go!!

This is one of the 6 durades (a vent) on the deck of the boat, which are also now ready for Rustoleum.