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Larry's LogAnd the next day, Tuesday, was a long one spent doing epoxy primer. I got up early, did the net, and started the first epoxy primer coat on the keel. It had to set for at least ½ hour after mixing and then had to be on the keel for 3-6 hours before I could put on the second coat. The first coat went on just fine, and after it was on, I went over to see about the drilled holes and the small cabinet I had ordered. I also stopped in the Internet place and saw that my name was corrected on the FCC database. I checked on the cabinet and it was finished - and looked pretty good. The holes in the metal pieces for the ladder mounts weren't drilled yet so I brought the cabinet back to the boat and showed it to Diane. I test fit it in place and opened and closed the door a few times and the piece of wood that holds the latch broke. So back it went, although Diane brought it since I needed to start the second coat of primer and give Sean the rest of the charts we wanted to copy. We had gotten more from Mima on the western Caribbean and also on the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, both places we had wanted to see but missed so far. Sean came by at just about 3pm, very punctual and a very nice guy. I then started the second coat of primer but had to mix the second set of cans since I had used up the first set. That took awhile and by the time I had finished applying the second coat, it was almost 6pm. I hoped that the timing was still OK but I figured it should be since it wasn't 90 degrees for the entire time between the first and second coats. Next morning we both woke up late. I was really tired from being on the go yesterday and we were both working pretty hard, trying to get the boat ready. I started this morning on the side boarding ladder mounts, since Diane had brought them back yesterday after she went over with the cabinet. Finally, I could try to get the ladder mounted. I brought down the drill, sanding disks, portable vise, Dremel tool and the pieces of the mounts and began to put the metal plates on the wood that actually held the ladder. Everything went OK but slowly since I had to measure carefully and try to match the pieces that had the holes line up the best. Sanding the stainless took the most time - the metal had not been polished and I wanted it to look at least a little better than it started. It wouldn't be perfect, but probably only I would ever notice. When it came time to drill the ¼ inch holes in the wood that had to match up with the holes in the steel sides, I decided I needed to use Tom's drill press so Diane and I went over there around lunchtime. We saw Steph and Tom just as Steph had come back from shopping. She had brought Diane a roasted chicken and so we ate that on Mima, of course Clem had her share as well. After we ate, I borrowed the portable drill press and drilled the last holes. We left after that, picked up the fixed cabinet and I stopped at a chandlery to get some fasteners I needed to finish the job of mounting the cabinet and attaching the ladder. As I was walking back, it started to rain - the first time in weeks. Not much, but enough to get everything wet and look dirty. When I got back, I tried out the cabinet again but was too tired still to do much but I figured I would try to mount the cabinet. Naturally, I didn't have the right size wood screws. Well, it was too late to start on the blisters so I took the charts we had borrowed, and which Sean had brought back, as promised, and walked back to Mima to return them and also to stop at the store to get the screws I needed. Stopping at Mima for a drink afterward, I didn't get back to the boat until about 5:30. Shower and dinner - that was it for the evening. Thursday I started with the ladder mounts again and they're finally finished. It took about 2 hours to get everything lined up and redrilled (the holes didn't line up perfectly) but the mounts worked as designed. I also drilled the small stainless plate I had gotten for the dinghy transom and the stainless cover plate I already had on board to replace the plastic cover that broke over some large holes near the hydraulic panel. I cleaned up the stainless pieces a bit more using the drill and the portable vise and then I went up on the boat and fitted the ladder and the mounts. I had to sand the inside of the holes in the teak blocks a little bit to accept the ladder tubing but then it all came together fine. I left it in place to show Diane (she had gone shopping again) and started on sanding the epoxy primer in preparation for fairing. The primer had set well and now needed sanding so I used the drill and the nylon wheel and did the port side. I was actually just about to start when Sean came by again and dropped off the large PVC tube for chart storage he had forgotten to bring yesterday. I thanked him and started on the keel. Diane came back as I was finishing the port side and after I helped her with the groceries, started on the starboard side. In the middle, Diane came down and said Steph called saying that my brother had just called on the cell phone. Steph was going to walk over with it but Diane went over instead. She had just gotten back about 10 minutes when he called again and we talked for a while but I asked if he could call back later since I needed to finish the keel and get everything cleaned up while it was still light. He said he would call back in that evening. So I finished sanding the keel and washed it down. It was ready for fairing, again. Hopefully it will go better this time. I mentioned to Tom that in the 25 years I've worked with epoxy, I've never mixed a bad batch, until last week. I had lots of little jobs to finish up the next day. In the morning, while Diane went shopping again, I finished cleaning up the metal pieces of the ladder mounts and assembled them using 5200. That entailed getting out the portable vise, drill and other accessories and took most of the morning. I was very careful putting the pieces together with 5200 since I didn't want the bolts that held the mounts to the toerail to be 'glued' in - I wanted to be able to remove them. After getting everything back on the boat, and helping Diane get the groceries onboard, I put the VHS tape cabinet in place. It was too windy and hot to use the epoxy and I thought I would wait until later, but when I got done with the cabinet, and cleaning the ladder mounts from the excess 5200, I put the new cover plate over the holes near the hydraulic panel. I never did get to do any fairing today but will try tomorrow. Diane, in the meantime, went to Echo Marine and Peake's for me, to get some 7/8" tubing for the security bars she wanted me to put in the main hatch. Saturday, the keel had my attention the entire day. After washing it with denatured alcohol, I started on the port side, mixing a batch of epoxy with fairing filler, very carefully measuring 5:1, and applied it with the wide plastic trowel. I repeated this 5 times on that side, taking the entire morning. Every batch was setting up fine. After lunch, I started on the starboard side and the skeg shoe. Again, everything went fine. I used the same measures for each batch so there would be no problems. Diane spent the day cleaning shrimp that Steph had kindly picked up for us at the early morning market in Port of Spain and then went over to Lady J to talk with Jim and Jacque about Venezuela. The sale of their boat had fallen through and so they were going to Puerto La Cruz as soon as the boat was ready. I made a copy of the files we had on Venezuela for them and Diane also brought a guidebook they could borrow. Jim was very happy about going; he hadn't really wanted to sell, but Jacque was also taking it in stride and I know she'll like Puerto La Cruz. In the meantime, we wanted to get there as soon as possible also. I spent most of the next day working on the blisters and the keel again. I found one blister I missed before and drilled that out and then drilled out the small depressions in the others so the new epoxy would adhere well. I also sanded them with 80 grit paper. After washing the dust off with alcohol, I filled the holes again. Some were finished but some would need to be filled again. Diane had walked over to Mima and borrowed their palm sander and cell phone (my brother was supposed to call again tonight). I used the sander and 80-grit sandpaper to sand the fairing on the keel. There were some spots that needed to be faired again but by the time I finished everything, I was just too tired. Diane was doing hand laundry and the water from the scupper drains was blowing all over (it had been very windy for the last few days) so I figured to stop for the day. I was tired. Well, I got my second wind and went out again around 4:30 to do some fairing on the starboard side of the keel. I marked the low spots with a pencil, washed that side again with alcohol and did some more fairing, this time making the thickened epoxy a little thinner than I had been. It was definitely easier to work with doing that kind of thin coat. I managed to do two batches before the light started to fade at about 6:15. It was staying light out much longer these days. We planned to get some more propane on Tuesday so Monday I got out the empty bottle and saw that it was very rusty on the base. I decided that it needed attention so I got out the drill and wire brush and cleaned all the rust off. I chipped away at the larger spots with a metal scraper and finally got it to bare metal, or at least as close as I could get. I then cleaned it off with solvent and coated it with epoxy, first unthickened and then with some silica added to give it some weight. Putting it out in the sun got it set very quickly. I hope that cures most of the rust problem. I then continued with fairing the keel and got 2 batches on when Jim from Revery came by. He owned a boat yard on Lake Erie and was going to help us estimate the amount of varnish to bring with us to Venezuela. He estimated 5 quarts per coat and that agreed closely with my own estimate and that from some other people who had done similar jobs. Interestingly, I had checked in some catalogs I had and the varnish was more expensive in the States than here, and that was for the best brand, Epifanes. I suppose if we buy it and decide not to do the work we could always sell it. After Jim left and I cleaned up and brought everything into the boat, we had lunch and I went on some errands. Of course, I realized that I had forgotten my wallet when I was almost at the store and had to go back (its very hot, breezy and dusty now). I bought several things and then got onto the Internet to check our credit card and checking accounts. After stopping at Mima for a short while, I did the last of my errands and went back to the boat. After dinner, since we hadn't rented a movie that night, I installed the replacement fluorescent fixture I had just bought. The one in the forward head had stopped working - it was the one I had installed the last time we were in Trinidad after the original quit. Maybe this one, a different brand, will last longer. I got up early Tuesday and brought the second propane tank out to get filled, but made coffee before that. I did the net and went out soon after that to start doing some more fairing on the keel. That, and filling the remaining blister depressions took the morning. Looking at the keel, I figured that it was just about done. Perhaps a bit more but it was basically done. After lunch, I started on the aft head, first taking it out of the compartment and then taking the bowl off to be able to get everything off the boat. The toilet hadn't been rebuilt in about 2 years and I wanted to do it before any problems. I managed to get the pump base off the boat (its heavy since its made of bronze) and washed it off thoroughly with the hose before starting to disassemble it further. I got everything apart and washed it again but didn't have the time to chip off the accumulated deposits on the inside of all the piping. I got some off but then just brought it back on the boat to wait until tomorrow. Once I got the toilet parts aboard (the bowl looked a bit silly sitting on deck), I relaxed a bit and then took off the old hose on the sink in the aft head that I wanted to replace. The sink was draining very slowly anyway and as I found, had some kind of deposit on the interior of the pipe adaptor. It was almost completely clogged. I cleaned the fitting out, cut the right length hose from the new stuff I had already and put everything back together, using a heat gun to make the hoses easier to get on the hose barbs. The sink now drained easily. Diane found out that the propane tanks wouldn't be returned today so we decided to eat at Joe's. We walked over and had a nice dinner and then stopped at Mima for a while before going back to the boat. |