Finishing Touches

June 13, 2020

With some cataract surgery coming up and my distance vision so-so, I have been hesitant to go out on the water lest I whack a kayaker or two  So I haven’t rushed to get the boat launched.  Also, local cruising would be about it, since traveling state-to-state is still a little problematic.

So I spent my shop time really working on finish prep.  I put three coats of varnish on all the trim and a coat of Interlux Brightsides on everything else that can’t be reached from the boat.  As you can see, having time to really prep really leads to a nice finish.  Usually Ray rolls on the hull paint, and I tip, but this year I had to do it all myself in 18-inch swathes all the way around.  Exhausting, but it worked.

Also, this year I decided not to tape around the fittings and windows.  So I bought a $25 badger hair sash brush, took a swig of rum to steady my nerves, and cut everything in before rolling.  Looks fine.  The sealant between the windows and hull itself actually looks better with a little paint on it, which will protect from UV.

The storage areas under the saloon settees are really deep and hard to get to.   That’s fine for life jackets, etc., but I needed an accessible area for tool storage and a laundry bin.  So I carpentered away and came up with a couple good areas for both.  I built a little access panel to get to the tool storage area, so I can bring them out from the front without disturbing the cushions.  The laundry bin is a modified trash can that be removed for cleaning.

Tool storage shelf.

Tool access panel.

Laundry bin shlef

Laundry bin