"DECK the Halls" - Part 2

It's rained for the last three days. After I painted the aft section of textured deck, (about 8 hours), it started raining and it fell almost constant for three days. Thankfully, the paint had time to dry but any further deck work would have to wait.

Today, the temperature fell into the lower sixties and I was able to continue my deck painting. I took on the port topside of the house. There was a lot of prep work for this one section. Some previous owner had removed some hardware from the deck and the just recklessly slathered on epoxy and some other type of filler. I had a little sculpting to do.

I took a triangle file and cleaned out every groove one by one. The result was not flawless but it was adequate...

I then cleaned the deck section, taped it off, and put down the first coat. I did not have a closed foam roller, so I decided to try a regular roller I have here on the boat... Mistake. The regular roller caused tiny bubbles to appear all over the first coat. I will let it dry overnight, sand the first coat smooth tomorrow and apply the second with a closed foam roller.

And, because of the cool temperatures, my old friend was able to stay topside and watch me work as well as the goings on here at the marina. He really enjoyed himself.

Fair  seas and God bless.

"DECK the Halls" - Part 1

This project has been taunting me ever since I bought Annie... The Deck!

I don't believe the deck has ever been painted and she was built in 1983. Thirty-two years of wear and tear urges the deck to whisper to me its need for attention every time I walk it. Today, I yielded to her urgings and decided to start that job.

Annie's deck, being thirty-two years old, has spider cracks in the gelcoat, and well as numerous nicks, dings, gouges, cuts, butyl putty filled abandoned screws holes, coupled with both textured and non-textured sections. Some areas will require more attention than others and will take more time than others. Today, I started with the easy stuff. The textured aft section of the boat.

Some more difficult sections that will come over the next few days/weeks...

I'm not a wealthy man by any stretch of the imagination, so I'm constantly looking for cost-efficient ways to accomplish various aspects of Annie's refit. A fellow Westsail owner and friend, Peter Ryan on Onapua, recommended a very inexpensive topside paint that would do the job - Rust-Oleum Topside Paint. It had great reviews and made my wallet's heart skip a beat, so I ordered a quart. This stuff is great! Only time will disclose its longevity and wearability but as to coverage, flow, gloss, and ease of application... Five stars!

This will be an ongoing project for the next few days/weeks due to the weather and the need for dry days, so I will keep coming back to it with additional posts to document the progress, but we are off to a good start.

Fair seas and God bless!

Boat Cards

Well, I finally did it. I got a boat card.

It was cheap and easy at Vistaprint, so I decided to go for it. Does this make me an official Boat Person? LOL.

Fair seas and God bless!

Mold, Mildew, and Nasty Things...

If you've followed my blog, you'll know I've tried a few different approaches to the flooring in Annie.

I'm not a rich man by any stretch of the imagination, so a Teak & Holly floor at $25 bucks per square foot was not going to happen - not unless I won the lottery.

I tried Allure vinyl flooring and that didn't work out, (it was too susceptible to damage and looked fake... which it was).

I tried Horizontal Bamboo and that worked good but when I received my new water tanks, I had to remove it because the tanks were too large, (height-wise), and I had to add an additional 3/4" marine grade sole to provide the room I needed for the new tanks. When I removed the Horizontal Bamboo, a number of pieces were damaged and Home Depot discontinued the line and I couldn't match it up.

Then, being a poor man, I decided to just paint the new 3/4" sole with a mildew/mold resistant paint and put down a rubber mat. That worked out fine until a little while back when I looked under the mat,.. The mildew/mold resistant paint did NOT do its job. I HAD SERIOUS MOLD & MILDEW! (No wonder I haven't been feeling well).

Actually, I'm surprised I didn't die with so much mold!

I treated the mold/mildew with both Clorox and a mold mildew remover and then decided to try one last thing... Stranded Bamboo.

Stranded Bamboo is stronger and harder that Horizontal Bamboo and is less susceptible to damage - plus, it looks great. I caught an amazing deal ($1.86 sq. ft.), where I was able to buy enough to do the whole boat and have some left over in case of future damage.

I was able to complete the main cabin today and I will finish up Mid-ship and V-berth tomorrow. I will trim it all out Saturday and get back to the topside... teak caprails are next.

Fair seas and God bless!

As a note to future re-fitters... whatever you estimate your cost of refitting an older boat, factor six to ten percent for mistakes, change of mind, the unexpected, and mold & mildew... LOL.

Updated Floor Plan

Here's an updated floor plan of Annie... Everything appears to be laid out correctly.

Fair seas and God bless.