First thing this morning I put the final coat of white paint on the topsides. That left me with less than half a gallon, so since I needed to give the paint time to dry I decided to go get more stuff!
Paint, rollers, tack rags, mineral spirits, screws and the plexiglass for the windows at Home Depot. Might just be the last time I need to go there. Then fast set 3M 5200, side navigation lights and some fuel fittings at Western Auto. Definitely not the last time I'll be there. Back to the shed where I unloaded everything and gaaaccck!
What a mess! First I dealt with all the paint cans. All the white paint was combined with a partial can of mineral spirits and poured back and forth taking eight cans down to three. A quart can of blue and a quart can of gray were combined into one of the cast-off gallon cans for use on the shelves and the rear deck. I'll put some paint down and spread sand on it, then paint it again for a non-skid surface. All the loose painting stuff was put into a bag and then everything was neatly piled over in a corner. I won't be painting again for a little while, so that'll work for now.
I installed the three fuel fillers to get them out of the way...
And messed around with some of the fuel fittings. I still need more plus clamps, but I need to make a list.
The cleats were next. I've a total of seven of them, six 8" long for the sides and one 6" long for the anchor. The holes for the small one had been drilled months ago, so the 8" cleats were next. I carefully lined them up, two at the stern near the transom, two midships just behind the forward cabin wall and two forward just behind the cuddy wall. I wanted them near internal boat structure just in case they need to carry some load. Each was placed, measured and holes drilled. Then I put blue tape underneath and filled each hole with epoxy from a syringe. I went around the boat three or four times topping off the holes as the epoxy soaked into the wood. I had discovered that the bolts for the rear cleats were a little too short so a run to Don Abel was in order.
Since it had stopped raining for a bit, not only did I get the bolts, but two more, and hopefully the last, sheets of 1/2" marine plywood.
When I got back to the shed I pulled the blue tape and cleaned up the drips. Then the bottom of each cleat got a figure eight of 5200 and a little around the bolt near the top and each was set in place. A fender washer, split washer and nut were added to the bottom and tightened down.
I didn't dare touch the squeeze out, otherwise I'd have made a mess! I'll take a very careful crack at removing the squeeze out tomorrow, but I may just leave it alone. It's even all the way around each cleat and consistent among all the cleats.
The bow pulpit was up next. The forward roller was installed with a through bolt, and small fender washer on the outside, and then on the inside, a nylon fender washer, a large fender washer, the roller, a large fender washer, a nylon fender washer, and then on the outside a small fender washer and a nylock nut. Everything was tightened up just until the nut and bolt head touched the washers. I want that roller to be able to roll!
The rear Y support was next with a through bolt and small washers on the outside with a nylock nut. The Y support is a pressure fit, so no washers on the inside. Again, just tightened until contact was made, plus just a little.
The extra on the ends of all the bolts installed today will be cut off later.
Just before I broke for dinner I filled all the pinholes in the spray rail. Man there were a bunch!
Last I started work on the cabin furniture. This is being somewhat designed on the fly, so it takes some time, but there are some guidelines to use. A standard chair is 18" off the floor, 18" deep, has a back 18" high with a five to ten degree angle. The backs of my seats aren't that high as the windows are in the way, but everything else will be close.
As you can see, I've gotten a good start on the rear seat. It's a little more than 24" wide at the top, and a couple inches wider than that at the bottom, so it should make for a comfortable seat. It's being designed so that the bottom will hinge up at the front edge and the back will pull out at the bottom to allow access to the fuel fittings inside. I will be boxing out an area for storage though. Can't have enough storage!
After all the work today the work bench looks much better!
Tomorrow I will continue with the cabin work. I may have discovered a DDD, update later.
9.5 Hours