Robin's Reports

BACK TO THE BOAT

by Robin

Gunnels are the sides of the boat. This is our new focus this weekend. Jack has done a great job working on some of the teak parts of the boat and he'd like to add them back onto the boat but we can't do that until the gunnels are painted.

First step is to sand all the new area.

Here Jack filled in the old rub-rail holes made by the screws (every other hole). The other holes are the screws that hold the top of the boat down onto the bottom part. Those will be put back on.

Second step is to find your cracks and fill them with Bondo-Glass. You mix a certain amt of bondo with a little bit of the red/white tube on starboard. Work it together and voila', you have workable fiberglass for the next several minutes.

Jack uses a flat tool to smooth it over the spots. Work quickly because it sets up (dries) fast.

Third step is to sand that again until it is nice & smooth. He's doing that right now, so no picture for you. Make sure you wear your dust mask.
(See how nice the grass is? I fertilized it.)

Last, you would clean up the area with acetone & a tacky cloth just prior to painting.

I don't believe we'll get to paint this weekend because of all the off/on again rainstorms, but bondo "sets up" quickly and Jack can work through this process between showers. Next weekend, we should be able to paint, fine sand (1500- 2000 grit) that and then put the teak back on a few spots.

Also, Jack ordered his new rub-rail, which is that rubber bumper area that goes around the entire boat to protect it from dock damage. My opinion is that it isn't 100% effective, especially with our boat. Our sides are rather high and so the dock is more likely to damage the mid-area, but that's just my opinion. Still, we're changing from a faded brown to a new black to match all our other upgrades. It also cosmetically hides the junction where the top half of the boat is screwed to the bottom half. The rub-rail should arrive on Tuesday. Yeah!

On last major thing on our to-buy list are the hoses for the drains & some new wood or starboard (white) for the electronics to set into. We don't lack much if we just got some good days of labor under our (umm, really Jack's) belt.