Thursday, October 22, 2009

A bit of a slow week

Last weekend the Northwest was consumed by a monsoon. Good thing I got some cover on over the boat now. Saturday I just knocked around the house, polished some deck hardware and did some house chores and maintenance on the Jeep. I now have heat in the Jeep so this winter will be much more comfortable. Not a bad way to kill a rainy day.
Sunday I got down to the boat and spent a fair bit of time cleaning up and organizing.
I started to prep the cove stripe and waterline for paint. I tried using the profile sander on the cove stripe. It works ok, but hand sanding turned out to be easier. Also, this way I didn’t risk the profile sanded walking out of the groove, which it really wanted to do.

I hope to finish up the sanding on the cove stripe this evening. I’m not heading into work until noon tomorrow so I might be able to get a coat of paint on in the morning.
I bought most of the supplies for the bottom. The West 410 filler, Pettit 4700 barrier coat, and placed an order for the Vivid bottom paint.

I’ve spent a lot of time this week reading about this boat work idea. I’ve had a couple field trips. The Seattle Public Library is a great resource they have a good selection of boat building/ woodworking books. I also went into NW Fine Woodworking. This place blurs the lines between an art gallery and a furniture store. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend stopping in. I walked away with so many new project ideas. This weekend some of thier craftsmen will be in talking about thier work. I'll make time to attend. Tomorrow morning I hope to chat with the yard owner and get some advice/ opinions on working out of his yard.

Not much to show, so no pictures this week.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

A nagging idea

I’m trying to work out this idea I’ve been kicking around for awhile; working for myself, on boats full time (and not starving). Something like Lackey Sailing.

I have to say that my fine wood working skills are lacking. I want to talk and visit with people who do interior joinery for a living. I’m fortunate that my step-father is a fine woodworker/ cabinet maker, so I have someone I can learn the skills from, but I’d like to talk with a few people who are working on boats specifically.

Right now I’m thinking it’s feasible to have a shed/ work shop in the boat yard where I can turn out 2-3 smaller boats a year while working part time, some evenings and weekends. The yard space is cheap and the boat mover is reasonable so my upfront costs are fairly minimal seeing that I own the most of the tools I need. Also, South Park has an abundance of neglected boats that could be had for next to nothing. Keeping the boats to smaller, 25 feet and under, helps insure quicker turnovers. After some time the project should prove whether it can be self sustaining. This can also be a showcase for my interior refits, which I’d like to do as well.

So far I’m just in the information gathering stage. Delta declined my request to tour their facility due to confidentiality reasons. I’m persistent however, and I’ll find a way. In the meantime, the chance to tour and chat with smaller operations would be very grateful.

If anyone has any connections, please send them my way. I’d be more than happy to lend a hand in the shop while I chat with you.

Monday, October 12, 2009

A long week

Last week seemed extra long.

Last weekend Alai and I went over to Leavenworth for the Octoberfest marathon. We each did the ½ marathon and we both did very well. At some point after the race, my left foot started hurting and by the next morning was barely able to stand on it. I stopped by my office when we got back in town and got a walking cast which, with a cane I used all week.
Thus, little happened on the boat until this weekend.

I started by sanding the black down with 220 grit on the random orbital. The streaks left by the tipping were very noticeable so it was easy to see when you had a smooth surface. This took a couple hours spaced over Thursday and Friday evenings. On Saturday I finished the last of the sanding. When I was done the boat looked super smooth and had the sort of chalkboard black look going on. I forgot the camera so no pictures.
After a good wash and scrub with a soft boat brush, I let the hull dry. (note, I’ve got the oil heater on in the boat now to keep the hull a bit warmer) Once the hull was dry, I used the Ultra Smooth High density Foam Roller and went to work on the finish coat.
I’d start by loading up the 6” roller. Then roll out the area until the roller was pretty much dry, then very lightly roll over the area again and again to flatten out the bubbles. I would vary the direction of the roller and again, use a very light touch, only the weight of the roller itself. I did find the rolling fast killed the bubbles better than rolling slow. Even still, this was not a fast operation. The roll and tip with two guys took an hour, the roll/ roll working solo took 5.
However, in the end I’m quite happy with the return, I'm also happy to be done with that section. Time for some pictures! From 10 feet the hull is super shinny:













From 5 feet you can see a orange peel effect, but I'm of with this. Its better then average.














On Sunday I decided, being that we’re into October now, I’m going to need some shelter. I bought one of those Costco car shelters. It’s not tall enough so I built two 25’ saw horses that stand just about 4’ tall and built the shelter on top of them. Being in a industrial area is great for gathering scrap wood. I found two pallets that were 14’ long. The runners were built out of 4x4 hardwood, oak I think, and weight a ton! I used 2x6’s for the legs and lots of framing nails. The thing is plenty strong, and pretty heavy. Even still I’ll add some concrete blocks or something to keep my shelter from becoming a kite.

Now I can get the final coat on the decks, and paint the bottom even if there is a threat of rain.



















PS, I want to visit Delta Marine’s cabinet shop. I’ve stopped in and left a nice letter/ request for the manager. If anyone reads this and has a contact, I’d just love the chance to get to see how they create such amazing interiors.