Construction - VII

Progress Report - Jan. to Mar. 2001

We survived El Niño, we survived La Niña, and so this winter was supposed to be "normal", meaning colder than the last few years. Since painting in temperatures above 50° was foremost on my mind, it seemed that many weeks passed where I could not do anything. But by stealing a warm day here and there, the painting progressed.

It isn't easy being green

I wanted a combination of light grey and green colors on the deck. Problem was, Interlux only has one green color and that's a really, really dark green. Taking advantage of our Internet community, I found from a fellow in Australia that mixing pigments into paint can yield a streaky mess, even when stirred thoroughly. So the lesson was you're better off using the given colors and mix them together to your own formula. Clearly it would all be guess work.

After bungling some ideas on a computer, I came up with the formula: 2 parts Sea Green mixed with 8 parts of White. So on my kitchen floor I mixed up a quart of the stuff. Hmm, not bad. A bit more neon-like than I would have preferred, but maybe it won't be as noticeable on the water. I commenced painting and finished 3 coats at the end of February. For non-skid I used the Polymer Non-Skid sold by Interlux. It worked really well and was easy to apply.

After installing some of the deck hardware and the mast tube, suddenly it was time for the very exciting process I like to call...

House Gives Birth to a Boat

As per plan, I hooked up the "skidding" frame to my truck and slowly started pulling the boat into the sunny spring day. This photo best describes the green color; the rest of the photos are a bit washed out. The important bit is the frame held together and skidded on the concrete admirably.

For the first time, I'm looking at the boat from farther than 2 ft. away. Wow.

The boat is moved forward a bit on the frame to get ready for the "dry-retrieval" onto the trailer. The ballast is still not installed, so horsing the boat around is still possible.

Another look near the bow.

The same friend that helped me in the last turn-over brought his car jack and lifted the bow enough to get the first trailer bunks under the hull. Then I hooked the trailer's winch up to the bow eye (just visible near the knuckle), and winched the boat on the trailer. Initially I had to tip the trailer up a bit, but the whole process was really easy to do. I love it when a plan comes together.

Here we are with the boat turned around, on the trailer, with a quick look at the straps.

A future project will be installing guides near the aft part of the trailer to help position the boat during "wet-retrievals".

Now some quick pictures of the interior. This highlights the hatches and portholes which were installed quite easily. No more gaping holes to look at.

Another view, slightly to starboard.

All hatches and deck hardware were sealed with a silicon/polyurethane blend called Life-Seal.

A closeup of the porthole. I used acrylic glass for the window, and the frame is made of 1/4" ply. I would choose something different next time because it couldn't hold up to the bolts. Even with washers, some of the heads sunk in a bit.

A close up of the bow and the hardware installed to date. There is a bronze padeye on the other side of the mast tube. Together they will be part of the boom vang. More visuals to come.

And finally, put to bed.

Now it'll be time to concentrate on the rig, rudder, and deck details.