Sunday, the 17th January, 2010

The weather is not too bad today. I start attacking the hull with a hot air gun.


The outside of the hull is like the inside of a 1970’s living room that you are trying to redecorate. The layers run in this order (listed from wood to the surface):

Primer; Filler; Undercoat; More filler; More Undercoat; 2 coats Gloss paint (dark blue); Filler; Plaster; Wallpaper (Anaglypta); Paint (White); Paint (Off White); 2mm ISOPON P38; Undercoat; Paint (White); Paint (White); Paint (White).

Honestly it bothers me that under so many layers of paint I won’t have a motor cruiser – I will only have a small dinghy that looks so much bigger because of the multitude of finishes.

By the time the morning is over I have completed about 1m2 down to the primer. There are a number of areas where I can see the hull has been fixed. The original construction using copper nails is still fine – but where repairs have been done, iron or steel nails have been used. Salt water ingress has caused these to corrode subsequently and the wood around them has rotted. On the bright side, I have not found anywhere that requires new planking (and it really is mahogany) yet, and I have some ideas on how to repair the damage with an epoxy put in and brass screws/washers in place of the iron nail before the epoxy goes hard.

It starts raining in the afternoon – so I retire inside to start painting the guest quarters. I think I mentioned before that it is a very small space – so while manoeuvring to get out of there every 10 minutes I manage to paint my leg, arm and hat.

I have discovered why magnolia is the favourite colour of the Brit. When applied to the skin, the tone is so close to the applicants skin colour that it is hardly necessary to bathe before going down to the pub for the evening. Having been enjoying this benign climate for a year, my tan is now fairly persistent and blotches of ‘Sweet’ make it appear that I suffer from the Michael Jackson fad for skin bleaching.