Friday, October 12, 2007

Big day for Shields 88

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Lots going on with the boat this week:
-Received title for the boat, ITS OURS! (along with something called a Sea Nymph 12, which Im told is a nice way to say "giant ugly metal dinghy")

-met with Mick, our local fiberglass guru

-started the nasty work on the boat


Although it's just a paper formality, it still felt great to have paper in hand. Turns out our boat was built in 1968, so it's going to turn 40 next year! Just the right time for a refit I'd say.

Our neighbors large orange cat stopped by to join in the celebration, and it looks like he's laid claim to the title!




Meeting with Mick our fiberglass guy was great. He can tell more in 5 minutes of looking at the boat than I could in a week. When in doubt, go with a pro! From his point of view, what we need to do is:

-fix toerail seam, which is seperated in a few places. I'll be grinding back 2" from the edge along the deck and hull, and glassing in fiberglass tape and fairing. Sounds straightforward enough, but labor intensive. See the joint below, and also, it turns out our boat was first blue!


-Mick is going to do the repair on the bow, after I do the prep. This is not a structural area (until we hit something) but I still want it done right. I'm hoping to learn as he does it.

-He was strongly suggesting that we spray awlgrip on the topsides, but I don't think its quite in the budget. We shall see, it would be really nice as the finish with AG is just great. Would kind of be straying from my philosophy of speed first, and its much more expensive to have sprayed, than to roll it myself. If I could, I would absolutely use Mick to do all the glass and paint work, he does really amazing work.

Theres a little story that I think is a good testament to his skill: Both Mick and I were doing some last minute rush work to an Etchells on its way out of town. He was doing gelcoat repair, and I was doing some rigging upgrades. The whole time we're working, he's swearing up a storm and declaring his work to be utter crap. After an hour of this I go to take a look at this lousy job he's supposedly doing. I couldn't even find the repair he was making until he pointed it out (when I almost stuck my hand in it!). I don't know why, but I instantly trust eastern europeans that downplay their own quality work! He can be found at Lakeshore Marine

I started today by removing the toerail. Not hard work at all, but has to be done. Felt good to be launching into the work. Also removed the vinyl rubrail. It makes some sense to replace it with new rail in better condition (to protect against dings, etc). BUT. I hate the way that stuff looks, it gets ugly fast, and is easy to tear, which means you end up with a duct tape repair:
In addition to the fact that it's ugly, and extra weight, I dont think it does all that much. In every collision I've seen between Shields (about 8), the rubrail has been no where near the collision. I think we'll go 150-style and delete the rubber.

Also did a test on how to remove the paint. Tried scraping, sanding (with DA) and soy strip. The scraping was ok, but lots of effort for a small area, coupled with the scratching if you're not careful, make that seem like a bad idea. The DA sander worked really well, clearing a 6"X 24" area in about 2 minutes. Left a nice finish too. The soy strip softened the paint, but didn't make it through the primer.

I did try the soy strip on the bottom, its unreal. It took all the VC17 off, leaving the barrier coat intact, in about an hour at 60 degrees! Wow. If I strip the whole bottom I will definitely use this stuff! www.franmar.com

Hours:
Kristian, 4 hours to remove toerails and rubrail 2 hrs to test paints and shoot the shit with the fiberglass guy.

Mood: jubilant but achy back

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