Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Waiting

Sailing can involve a lot of waiting. That’s nothing new. I’ve spent plenty of time waiting for the wind to pick up, waiting for the bridges to open or the Locks to raise. But this is a new waiting.

I had planned to start on Winterhawks exterior right away, finishing the necessary sanding, applying a barrier coat, primer and paint to the hull and top sides. I had planned to have this all done and have Winterhawk floating dockside in 2 months. But.. further reading on paints shows that I need it to be 50 degrees to paint. I could get the barrier coat on while it’s in the 40’s but not below. Seeing as we’ve woke to snow and freezing rain the last few days I’ve modified my plans. It might mean Winterhawk stays on land for an extra month, but oh well, I can wait.

I picked up an oil-filled radiator last night. I’m going to start on the interior this weekend and this puppy will ensure a warm boat so paints and epoxies dry, no waiting here!

I’ll plan on looking into nooks and crannies and getting a better feel for the boat. I’m also going to start sanding the interior hull in the forward birth. I’m going to work on insulating and lining the hull forward as well as the cabin top. Once this “room” is done I’ll have a clean area I can tape off for sleeping. There is a pretty good chance I’ll be spending some nights on the boat and this will be much nicer than sleeping with a respirator.

As I did with the Westerly, I’ll be lining the hull with ¼ to 3/8 cork glued directly to the hull. This adds a layer of insulation and eliminates the condensation problems I originally had on the Westerly. I’ll be covering the cork with wood slats running fore-aft. There are vertical battens on much of the hull already. I might need to epoxy in a few more, we’ll see. I’m thinking of using a dark wood again, most likely mahogany, but I’m still open to a lighter wood.

My plan is to work my way aft, following the forward birth, I’ll tackle the head and hanging locker. I’d like to use a composting toilet like the air head, but I’ll just make sure the current set up is working well 1st and then add the airhead to the someday list.

With a good plan, I figure I can have the interior ready to go in 6 weeks, including a new 12 and 110 volt electrical system. Things are so much easier the second time around. While I’m waiting for the weather to warm I can learn about the Atomic 4 and polish the deck hardware in my nice warm cabin.


I've been trying out hull colors. I think black wins.

Two more days!

1 comment:

  1. For the hull insulation, i would recommend putting a good sealing coat on the cork to insure a long life without rotting... the cork is still pours and can slowly absorb water so giving it a sealing coat (especially when you'll be covering it with ceiling) will be good to do.

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