Still waiting for the Big Event

In the last few days I have installed a new engine water pump and a new alternator belt and I have given the engine box a thorough cleanout. I have also been doing some epoxy filleting in the area over the windshield where the new top’s first cross member lies and some other pilot house area filling and fairing to get things ready for an interior paint job.

The top is finished and awaiting transport to the boat. I think it looks quite nice, with four coats of two-part epoxy paint.

Like many other things on this project, surface preparation for painting has turned out to be more complicated than expected. The framework we built on the boat to support the top needs to be smoothed. In addition to surface sanding, I want to knock the sharp edges off the rafters and supporting structure and to fair the intersections of wood to fiberglass with epoxy glue. This turns out to be harder than expected because the fir lumber we used for the project is really quite dense. And the pitch in the wood is gumming up sandpaper at a prodigious rate.

Meanwhile, it seems that it has been raining here, briefly and violently, about every 15 minutes. I am reminded of a time I worked on a ship in Apra Harbor, Guam, during the rainy season. It was possible to chip paint, be driven below decks by rain, return to buff rust off the spot you just finished chipping, then apply red lead primer only to have it mostly washed away by another furious torrent.

So, I am doing inside the boat work now and waiting for next Wednesday when we will try again to install the new top – weather permitting.