Sanding and Keel grinding...

Wow, what a job! There were 3 discernible coats of bottom paint under there, who knows how many were actually there. So, turned out it was easier to sand it all the way back down to the factory gelcoat than to try to get her through evenly to one or another layer.


Turns out that the boatyard has a TON of environmental regulations about how to prep and paint your boat... and what sorts of things can and cannot be done. The keel of this little boat was nothing but old paint and rust... so it had to be ground back down to the original steel in order to get the bottom paint to adhere properly. Unfortunately for Phillip, the regulations require that the area being ground be walled-off to prevent all the fly-off from the grinder from .. well, flying off (into the environment and the sound).

Hence the plastic wrap. You can also see in this shot the bottom is nearly prepped for paint, all down to gelcoat. Poor Phillip spent almost 4 days in that little plastic tent grinding through 20+ wheels before the keel was finally ready for paint.


So, as one can imagine... one gets a bit dirty when grinding in an enclosure of that sort.


Here's another shot, can anyone say drag queen... lol.


Phil got a neat shot of me in my Tyvex suit... oh yeah, those are basically cheap overalls to protect our clothes and head from all the junk that flies around while we're sanding / grinding / painting etc...


So when you grind down to gelcoat... sometimes you wind up hitting fiberglass. So we decided to put a light coat of 'Barrier Coat' (BC) over the hull and keel. BC is basically a light 2 part epoxy that is rolled on just like paint.


More BC.


another shot...


and one with the bike :)


Notice the 2 shades of gray here? YES, finally on to the actual bottom-paint...


That's all for now. We've actually finished the upper part of the boat too, above the waterline. It got the final coat of paint yesterday and is curing. I'll post up some shots of that along with shots of the boat going back into the water sometime in the next few days.

Haul out

Haul out day was entertaining. Phil wanted to get some work done to the mast, fix the mast light and some other hardware, so we had to lower the mast (which we did while it was still in the water!!) I had to help steady the base, while one person held a halyard to control the initial drop, and another was behind to catch the mast once the halyard could no longer control the fall.

So, no pics of the mast on its way down, but here's one just after.


The haul out was interesting. There's basically this huge set of pylons over which a large crane-type thing drives and lowers these long straps into the water and underneath the boats.




Two fellas on the dock below steady the boat over the straps, one near the bow...


the other at the stern...


and... here she comes! I took LOTS of shots here basically to try and capture the entire run out of the water to the dry dock.... so keep scrolling :)


Rudder outta watta...


Back into the water for a quick adjustment on the straps...


Keel outta watta... almost.


Boat outta watta...


She flies!


More flying boat... flubber man, great stuff!


From the back...


Gettin' higher...


From topside...


Another topside...


Boat over pavement...


Off to her new home for the next week or so...








And the final resting place -- until we finish the new paint job that is :)


From the port...


From the bow...

Saililng, prep for haul out...

Well, as it turns out, anything worth doing requires care and effort! Phil (my brother-in-law) pulled the boat out of the water last week and we have been hard at work ever since, sanding all the old paint off of her, getting her prepped for new paint, keel, bottom and upper hull.

Before we pulled her out of the water we had to sail her from Boston Harbor to the Swantown docks where she'd get hauled out. It was a great sail and I got some shots of the boat and the marina.





Kat and Eon making sure the boat's been unloaded of anything we don't need for the refinish.


Busted, being incognito about this pic taking stuff isn't so easy -- got a smile out of it though :)


Keep it tight there Phillip!


Sailing can take it out of ya! Kat and Eon takin' a break.


Another nice shot of the marina...

Rainier

As if I hadn't been tortured enough by this man during graduate school, he's come to the sound for a visit! Phil emailed me the other day and said that he and his wife Linda would be in town. So, I suggested we do a couple of day hikes... and they turned out to be very nice!

Did the whole Rainier thing (well, a couple miles of it anyway) and got some half way decent pics. It was basically a ski slope. There was still over 60" on the ground in most areas. The hike back down was awesome one could basically ski it w/ hiking boots!

We didn't make it all the way to the base camp, matter of fact we didn't even get close... but it was a fun hike, i'll be back after I get some good mountaineering gear (cramp-ons, gators, etc..)

The climb to the peak starts at 2:30 am the morning after the hike to the base camp. The group leaves from there to start scaling the glaciers to the more than 14K foot peak. Rainier is basically a proving ground for anyone planning on major climbing expeditions (K2, Denali, Everest).















Here's a shot of Phil on the hill :)


His wife Linda...


one more of Phil...


There was a neat scale topography map at the visitor's center...

Priest Point Park

Priest Point Park and the literally hundreds parks in the area are all really awesome places to go for a walk or jog, or just a picnic. Some, like Priest Point have lots of little shelters with grills as well as hiking trails that run all up and down the sound.

I've been feeling a bit sedentary over the past couple of days. Phil's diving longer days during the beginning of this month so that he can take a week sometime mid-month (probably next week) and pull the boat out of the water to give it a makeover, new bottom paint, possibly deck paint and some basic rigging work.

Anyway, so my afternoons haven't been quite so thrilling lately... and I figured it was time to venture outdoors and get a workout!

Priest Point was really awesome for that. They have a few miles of trail that circle the sound... and they allow joggers during the dry months (June-September I think). So, I started running up the main trial and saw the oddest thing... horrid picture quality, I know... I was running, so it was hard to hold the camera still while maintaining my target heart rate.


Ever wonder why they call it the 'Evergreen State'?


This whole area is OBSESSED with salmon. Many salmon species travel all the way into the southern sound from the Pacific, making their way inland up the rivers and streams to their spawning grounds. Another of the parks in the area actually has a hatchery where they try to aid the process. Salmon in the region were almost extinct in years past because of damning along the rivers.



What a cool tree!


It's one of those that's soooo tempting to climb out onto...


But it's a LONG way down!


This was pretty much the scene along the sound coastline.. beautiful!


Anyway, it was a good walk... I know I'll be back there many times.