Not done with the hulls...

So now, here we are again with the hulls:

First Avi buffed the hulls....

Removes oxidation, gelcoat stains, surface rust, tarnish, and scratches.

Then, he polished them:

Pro Polish is a fiberglass/gel coat cleaner, sealant and polish with UV inhibitors that produces an ultra high gloss finish in one easy step.

Simple Green to remove those stubborn stains...

LPG (Liquid Propane Gas) System

All in images:

Before: broken solenoid valve

Bought the parts, figuring out the system...

At it...

Voila.

 

Sanitary Plumbing... What does it take?

What does it take to change the sanitary plumbing in a former charter boat with 4 heads (read toilets)?
Well, 2 holding tanks, many feet of different kinds of hoses for water intake and discharge; lots of syphons; lots lots lots of clamps; different kinds of valves, water filters, and lots of patience to reinstall the whole system in hard to reach places... and a few expletives to relieve the frustration!

Parking Issue

Well very generous friends have offered for us to tie up Agave at their dock.  The creek is very shallow, so today we kayaked all around to do some depth sounding, and figure out how we would approach the pier.

It would be really cool if Agave could "park" here for the season.

This nifty device came out so handy: a handheld sonar / depth sounder.  Worked perfectly.

soundings, hull & keel measurements up, down, and sideways...

Serendipity

What luck!  Today it's 85F (30C), and the boys' school is closed because of water issues.  So we took them along, and that allowed us to stay longer and not cut the day short to pick them up on time from school.  So we pretty much finished today (we just have to have the props moved to paint underneath them).

Voilà !

It took exactly 4 gallons total for the 2 hulls and 2 coats.  Another quart will be needed for the props areas.  We did not get to the stripes yet.

Hull Work Continues... it's cool to miss school to bottom paint!

Today, a bit more sanding here and there; mask taping; sealing the keels with Dynaflex 230 latex sealant; and finally our first coat of bottom paint: Interlux ACT with Slime Fighter for fiberglass - Blue.

More tomorrow...

Hull Work

The main job today was to apply Interlux Interprotect 2000E with Microplates.  It is a two-part epoxy coating developed to protect fiberglass hulls from water absorption, which can lead to osmotic blistering. The microplates create an overlapping barrier to help stop water migration through the coating.  We applied it where there were minor blistering or where we had been a bit too agressive with the sanding (that is when we went from 80 grit to like.... 36! he! he! that's what you call desperation).  But overall the hulls are in very good condition. 

Before

Application of Interlux Interprotect 2000E barrier coat

Moving Along with Spring Commissioning...

Finally we are done with sanding - don't know if we'll ever want to do that again: it was a grueling job!  So next we washed the hulls with boat soap and rinsed them:

and then applied solvent (Interlux 202) and wiped it off like so:

More tomorrow....