End of Season Retrospective

So there it is. One summer. Gone. Looking at this picture, it sure doesn't seem like much was accomplished, but that is simply not true. The original goal was to get the decks recored, faired and painted and the boat splashed by August . (Swing and a miss!) At least the side decks are recored and the recore learning curve is mostly behind me. All that's left for this season is to button the boat up for the winter and sneak in mini projects on the nice days until the cold weather is here to stay. I'm thinking I'll at leat set up some sort of workshop in the basement and attempt some varnshing over the winter. Discouraging? Yes. Feeling somewhat accomplished? Yes. I learned a lot.

Some observations/tips in no partcualr order:
1. Time. Tim L. said it, people on the forums said it, I now beleive it. It takes lots and it is a huge commitment. In hindsight, I would have gladly bitten the bullet and paid $$ to have it done whe I had the chance, and then enjoyed my Summer sailing with the family. On the flip side, when it's done, I'll be very proud of my little boat and apprecaite every moment that I'm out sailing with the family all the more.
2. Shelter. DO NOT think you can do it with simply a tarp - or at least resign yourself to the fact that you will spend a ton of invaluable project time covering and recovering and trying to figure out how to better cover and recover the boat. Even a canopy over the boat would be worlds better than my setup.
3. Staging. Good move. Spend the time up front, do it and save your back.
4. The 7535 Porter Cable sander has been great. Although at times (like when I was grinding through the POs deck paint, the original non-skid and the original gel coat) I wanted more bang for the buck. I used 60 grit sanding disks. I think I'll try out some 40 grit for the next go-round. Also, I'm wondering if a genuine "grinder" might be a good investment. I'd also consider a sander with a vacuum attachment. Never used one, but grinding sucks - anything to make it less annoying.
5. Dive in and just do it. Get what you think you need and just do it. It's not rocket science. Only I, and maybe a few others, could screw up mixing the epoxy. Even so, worst case, it can be undone and redone. For me, doing the best way to learn. You even learn when you screw up!

I am far from done.

Port Side Deck recored...

Well, yesterday evening after work, I started glassing the port side deck, and Scott came to my aid a little later. It sure is nice to have a helping hand. He is much appreciated.

By 6:30, I already had to go dig out the plug-in shop light and hang it over the boat so we could see. The sun is setting by 6:15 these days and the temperatures are beginning to plummet at night, so I'm thinking it is the end of deck work for the season. We finished by 7:30, shortly before the rain started.

Hopefully, I'll be able to tackle some other jobs over the Winter in the basement, and get back to the decks first thing in the Spring. I think I'd kill for indoor storage...

And September is done...

That was a quick month! Wow!

Updates: A new October Web Album added to the right. It probably won't see to much action.I'll shut down the recore after the port side deck it glassed over. On nice days with nothing else to do - heh, I have a myriad of other projects I can do in the meantime.

Port side deck recore: the core is replaced, skins are glued, and the (gasp) grinding is done. All that remains is to lay the fiberglass and complete the scarf joints. I'm going to try and procure Scott's services for this. It's much faster and more enjoyable with a helping hand around. I'll be sure and stock up on beer to pay him.

One note on the coamings. Saturday was really nice and sunny. I laid the coaming in the sunshine on the driveway for the afternoon to warm it up a bit. Then, before I mixed the epoxy, I gave the squirt of resin a good blast with the heat gun to thin it a bit. Then, I mixed in the hardener and dribbled it into the holes I had drilled along the bottom edge. It seems to be coming out really nicely. It'll be nice to get to the varnishing stage.