Ta Fixe Update

[brookiesailor]

Hey all!,
It is not usual that I get to sit in front of my computer, I am usually on my mobile device, and I really hate typing on that sucker.

So last week I pulled the plastic cover off myself. that wasn't really the plan for the day, nor did I really have the tools to do so but it became evident when I got to the gate at the yard and could smell the varnish stripper I had applied the night before on my boat on the other side of the yard, I would probably die from inhalation poisoning if I didn't

So armed with a 6 inch hack saw I slowly, over two hours, removed the cover. Now never having done this I made a number of mistakes, some of which were hilarious. Spent three minutes cutting through a tie that easily came un knotted and realized they were all tied easily.... when I got it off I let out a huge WHOOHOO (I am 5'3 and weigh 123, it was quite a feat at times). There was an echo from another boat down the way

Of course as soon as I got the plastic off..it started to rain and I bailed for the day with the frame up.. My husband is in China/Turkey/Ukraine for work and he said...you will never be done by the time I get back to put the boat in the water....Challenge on man. (BTW I only want to make a day sail closer to the house so I don't have to spend so much time in the car)

I have rotated out the old propane tanks, put on the new zincs, measured for halyards, met with the rigger who explained to me how to make all the repairs I needed to make and do the maintenance needing to be done (he is awesome). Really the sticking point now...the bottom. They took the paint off yesterday and there is some work to be done.(not a surprise)...So I may have to concede but it was not on my part LOL

Hubby comes home Sunday. I will be at the boat yard Sunday, I have a friend who's husband starts cancer treatments Monday, she lives by there and they are on each others nerves, she is just going to come and sit and bitch. I don't care if I don't get anything done

on the woodwork. Because the stripper was still going off when the rain started it continued to work for four days...Which in my opinion was great. I walked by every couple of hours, did a little scraping and walked on. it has since dried out. Heat gun and scraper now. I believe it was Cetol. the first stuff I put on didn't even touch it

[JPA Cate]

Wow, you got a lot done, and learned a whole bunch in the process. Good on you, brookiesailor!

Ann

[Spot]

Originally Posted by brookiesailor

.... when I got it off I let out a huge WHOOHOO (I am 5'3 and weigh 123, it was quite a feat at times). There was an echo from another boat down the way

Whoohoo from Minnesota! Looking forward to reading more updates.

[brookiesailor]

Hello All! Ugh where to start. It has been a busy few weeks.

the bottom. They blasted it...Not pretty. Lots of osmotic blisters and then some weird repairs that had been done in the past that need to be ground down, the whole thing faired and then painted. Weather has been the issue. I am on my way over in an hour to see the progress. I was unable to get there during the week...

I removed the name last week. YAY. Now I am trying to figure out how to put the new name on. It has a monitor wind vane and will be documented so both the name and the hailing port have to be together. I was going to put the port on the back and the name on the sides. So I may put the name on the back small and add it to the sides in larger print. It needs a buffing, which I may get to tomorrow after hubby leaves.

Still doing woodwork. Learning epoxy/varnish techniques. Drop boards just about finished. Had put that project aside as we were rushing to put her in the water to move her, then the bottom happened. I have new halyards to install today and had a bunch of things for the move I needed to do, but since that was delayed I went back to the wood work.

Today I am starting to load stuff on. Hubby is headed off to china tomorrow for a month and so I am going to use his muscles. I hope she is in the water this week and I can move her. she is two and half hour round trip from the house. I don't mind but 10 minutes sounds much more fun

[letsgetsailing3]

I may have missed an earlier report, but what's going on with the hatch?

[brookiesailor]

The hatch was difficult to get the old finish off. First I tried a gentle stripper... it did absolutely nothing but waste my time. Then I tried a good one. The problem came is that as of that day the humidity jumped and I was having a hard time neutralizing it. Finally the heat gun and elbow grease got rid of the rest of it and now it is just about ready for some epoxy. I am going to remove the seam sealers and replace. that will probably be next weekend. It is still raining here...

[Spot]

Does the rest of the windvane come off easily for doing the stern graphics?
Are you going to do freehand paint, stenciled paint, or pre-cut vinyl?

[brookiesailor]

The wind vane is a bit difficult. I am going with a vinyl sticker. You should have seen me hanging upside down measuring for it yesterday at the yard. I only have a long ladder and it was not going to work for what I needed done.

Hubby came with me yesterday. We loaded a bunch of stuff on board that had been given to me by the previous owner. Then we ran three halyards and realized that in fact that we needed a fourth.... of course. so I ordered that while at dinner. Hubby was a great help in showing me how to mouse a line so that we could get it to go smoothly through the slot in the mast. It took us an hour to do all three halyards. Now I need to learn how to splice. the previous owner had not so it was easy to undo everything but I would like to learn and know that it makes a stronger connection. Maybe when she is a little more settled

Hubby leaves today he will be back on the 24th. it will be a busy month. They have begun grinding the hull. So progress.

ps. I can't get my pictures to go right way around...ideas. The line ends need to be melted I know...

[Spot]

Sounds like you're making progress Brookie, congrats.
I am thinking you should find a scaffold, people lift, or wait until splashing before doing the graphics. No sense in working upside down or too high up on a ladder. It might not be a bad job from a dinghy with a helper.

[JPA Cate]

Brookie,

The ends of the lines should also be whipped, even if you dress them with a hot knife. If you only melt them, eventually, the cover starts to peel away and looks ratty. I'm sure you can find an example online somewhere.

Good on all your perseverance, and boat work.

Ann

[brookiesailor]

Ann,
They are, just in a bit and then taped over. I eventually want to learn to splice but I didn’t get to the boat until 4 pm and with hubby leaving the next morning he was interested in getting home.

Lol. I was just measuring that way. I will bring another ladder when I get the name. I am going to need to do some buffing on the back as where the old name was is darker/not oxidized. They are grinding the hull right now so i am waiting to not make a wreck of the gelcoat

[brookiesailor]

Hoping soon. It was a five hour journey for one hour of boat work..