Small Boat Voyages

What with the weather being ideal this week I had expected to be finished painting by now but stuff gets in the way and with one thing and another I’ve ran out of time. I’ve taken my time to prepare the surfaces at least and given the bottom a sand and inspection,  the boot line a sanding, and the sides a sanding, filling small areas where the paints been chipped or dented, and subsequently fine sanding to remove all the previous peaks to flatten the surface once more ready for a top coat.

Starboard side has two coats at this stage and port side one coat. The top of the boot line has been masked to preserve the top edge.

Looks like it’ll rain this next week but drier weather next weekend so for now that’s all the painting for now. Next time it’ll be one coat starboard and two on the port side. Then the boot line. Then the bottom which should be quicker.

A note on safety.

Since the hull rests against two pairs of wobble rollers mounted on brackets each side the keel to keep the boat upright it is necessary to lower these rollers to get access to sand or paint the areas of the hull they they engage with. Before dropping the rollers out of the way I lashed the mast tabernacle to the side of the trailer opposite to the side the rollers to be dropped with a ratchet strap to prevent the boat accidentally toppling over. The string you can see in the photos is simply a precaution. I moused the hooks with some hemp cord to prevent anything coming undone before the ratchet was tightened. Belt and braces maybe but better with than without. The world, they say would be utter chaos without a bit of sting here and there.