April 29 - Bottom Coat Rolled On

1. 6 Coats of Interprotect 2000E

2. Sanded Hull below waterline with 80 Grit

3. Sanded Hull below waterline with 220 Grit (very smooth)

4. Washed down hull with thinner

5. Masked off waterline

6. Rolled on two coats of Red VC17M bottom paint with Teflon

Since last update, Ive also spent 18 hrs sanding the keel - not by choice, but just out of necessity becaus ethe stuff I applied turned out to be as hard as a rock. I then applied a complete coat of lightweight red marine body filler. I got through sanding most of one side of the keel today - and it was turning out perfectly smooth - but the sander simply wore out. I'll have to pick up a new one soon I guess.

All I need now, and as soon as possible, is for the crane to move the boat forward one foot in its cradle so I can start at the parts previously under the cradle stand. Its coming along - but a long way to go yet.

April 20 Renovation Update

Its cold. Cold means no progress on the paint/epoxy. Cold also means the stuff I put on the keel hasnt dried for days and its going to rain soon. Great.

I did manage to rip an old window out and install a new tinted one. I think it looks pretty good.

Jillian and I also painted all the interior wood with Cetol varnish - really made the teak look great.

April 17 Renovation Update

Note first - CYC started putting their docks in today - sweeet.

So since last post I've taken two afternoons off (holidays) to paint so toxic epoxy onto the hull. I've now applied two coats of POR15 on the keel, sanded it, and smeared on Watertight filler into all the pit marks and holes in the iron. I'll finish it off with cheaper Canadian tire bondo this weekend then hand sand it to a nice shape so it glides better through the water.

I've now applied 4 coats of Interprotect on the hull. The aim is for 6 coats before i start sanding that to a smooth finish. Once thats done, three coats of VC17 Red and then bring the crane in to move the boat ahead 1 foot so I can do it all over again on the parts under the stands. Starting to hate this.

When its cold out, I spend hours with a razor blade cutting the caulking off the boat - I so wish I could pay some kid to do this job - it sucks.

I estimate now that im up to 150 hours on this project.

April 9 Renovation Update

A ton of progress since the last post as the weather has finally gone above the minimum 10 degrees Celcius required to paint. I painted the first coat of POR15 on the keel. Reading the warnings on this product made me worried:

"HUMAN EFFECTS OF OVEREXPOSURE:Inhalation of MDI vapors or aerosols in concentrations above 0.02 ppm can produce irritation of the mucous membranes in the respiratory tract, running nose, sore throat, productive cough and a reduction of lung function. Extensive exposures to concentrations well above the TLV could lead to bronchitis, bronchial spasm and pulmonary edema. These effects are usually reversible. However, due to low vola tility, high exposures are not anticipated except if the material is overheated or sprayed as an aerosol into the air. Hypersensitivity pneumonitis has also been reported. Another type of response is hyperreactivity or hypersensitization. Persons with a preexisting unspecific bronchial hyperreactivity or persons with a specific isocyanate hype rsensitivity (as a result of previous repeated overexposure or a single large dosage)will respond to small isocyanate concentrations at levels well below the TLV of 0.02 ppm. Symptoms could be immediate or delayed and include chest tightness, respiratory distress or asthmatic attack. "

Also apparently im suposed to have an eyewash shower and deluge present when I apply the paint. I'm fresh out of deluge showers though.

So geared up with a respirator and googles and hand to elbow gloves, I applied the POR15 to the keel and it worked perfectly. Sealed the raw iron to a smooth hard finish.

Next I rolled on the first coat of gray Interprotect Epoxy 2000. This one seemed to smell even worse and both Jon and Mike came by the tell me the parking lot reaked of the vapours. Apparently my mask worked, or I was too stoned from the fumes to know better. I hope it worked. Only 5 more coats of Interprotect, but I'm switching to white.

April 6 - Renovation Update

Have been busy since the last post. Ordered a new stereo and antena for the boat to replace the one which was stolen. Finished all my presanding both below and above the waterline. As of today, the last "Felicity" logo was sanded off so officially the boat as a No Name now.

I recently pull the old window off one side of the boat and tried to install the new tinited one - but they pre-drilled the hole sin the wrong spot so it broke. New ones have been ordered.

Next up - remove caulk, both black and white.

March 24 - Renovations + Thieves

Another day of sanding - yesterday and today saw the entire hull sanded a second time to prepare for epoxy and paint. This job truly sucks, but the lesson of why its important is visible on some boats in the yard whose paint is peeling off. Paint will not stick to an unsanded hull.

Byproduct of sanding is fiberglass dust - respirator and googles required.

Jillian came out to take some pictures for the blog. When I finished up and came home to review them, I noticed a hole cut in the tarp. Heading back out to investigate it became clear before I climbed up to have a closer look that the hole was perfectly cut with a knife. Looking in, the hatch was smashed open, the boat was ransacked, and the stereo and a few other things were gone. Leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth. Seems I'll have a few more repairs to add to the list, not to mention the purchase of a new stereo.

On the upside, 90% of the presanding is complete. All I need now is some warm weather for painting.

March 21 - Renovations

At this point I have 100 hours committed to the renovations on the boat. I spent the fall stripping 8 layers of paint off the bottom, grinding 1/4 inch of metal off the whole keel, and sanding the fiberglass to a smooth finish.

Apparently one should wear eye googles and not glasses when grinding raw iron, or so said the ER doctor as she romved the meatl from my cornea. Very pianfull. Oh and I now know the paint stripper that I used is a cancer causing agent. Wonderful.

So today I wire-wheeled the keel to remove the winter rust build-up. I do not recommend this process as steel needles rotating at high speed turned my legs into a pin cushion. Cleaned the keel up nice though.

Another pleasant suprise - after sanding off some cover up paint I found the repair job from when a previous owner had a few too many and rammed into something - hard. Oh well, just another thing to fix.