Fall is upon us.
Starting to cool down pretty fast, from mid 20s last week to mid teens this week. Lot of work done since the last update. All the framework has been painted. Started to paint the inside skin with Amerlock. Had an annoying experience getting the stuff this time. I bought about 12 gallons of the stuff when I did the outside of the hull. Walked in, ordered it, paid for it and walked out, cans in hand. This time they wouldnt’ sell me any. Seems the laws are now super restrictive. You need a license and have to be a contractor or they wont sell it. You can imagine the steam coming out of my ears. Took a day or two to solve, I called the head office of PPG and got the local sales rep’s name and number. Called him up the next week. Asked me a few questions, said No problem and called the store. Stuff was ready by the time I got there.
The seat cover hinges have been tried and need some work. The idea works but the execution left a lot to be desired. Looks like a demented beaver had at them. Some of the panels I precut were finish cut and placed. The lockers are now starting to be used. Bonus. Less stuff piled up in heaps on every surface. Still need to put the front faces on them though.
I finally got round to removing the last of the sheet Styrofoam from the coach roof and the side decks, which I had left in with the hope that it would help keep the boat cooler in the summer. (Like that actually worked ). Finished taking down the last of the overhead panels a few days ago and pulled all the 2 inch sheet foam.
Next job is to scrape down every surface and get rid of as much of the tarry adhesive they splotched on the steel to hold the phone. That is gonna be a long tedious job. Doing the hull wasn’t too bad, you are working with the surface in front of you or below. This stuff is all overhead and I last about 2 hrs before my arms go to fall off. The other thing, when we scraped the hull, it was summer and the goo came off easily. Now it’s starting to be tougher to remove.
Once the goo is off, I can clean up the rust on the inside, as some of the hatch frames leaked over time and corroded the skin and stringers. Not too much of a problem but the temperature is starting to approach the lower limit for both the rust coat and the Amerlock. Anyway I’ll keep going on that as long as I can.
Once the interior is as done as I can get it, I’ll be starting to work on the AC and DC systems. The panels on the overhead had to come off to do this, so that job is already underway. I put in the shore power socket a couple of years ago and ran the cabling to the isolation transformer and back to the switch panel. I figure on one outlet in the galley, a short run of maybe 5 feet, the other will be at the main bulkhead. about 15 feet.
Speaking of the main bulkhead, I got the panels rough fitted so they lay flat on the rib. Not bolted in yet, that can wait for a while. But the result is as expected, no surprises there. May actually cough up the bucks for some mahogany ply wood. I think I can get them out of two sheets and have a good bit left over for other uses.
Started working on the mast head unit, bought a cast aluminum box, installed the terminal strip inside and mounted the Triwhite nav light on the cover. I have the cable and will have to bring it up off center as the mast head is full of the halliard sheaves. I figure on cutting a small plate to fit over the rough hole that exist, and put a cable ring round the top end to support the weight. Then bend it to fit into a notch cut into the side of the box. The next problem will be to run messenger lines back down for the radio cable and the mast head sensors for the navigation system. Same for the mast light. Somewhere in the piles and boxes is a 50 foot plumbers snake. Should do that fairly easily.
More to come. TTFN
sabredancing 