Cockpit | Paint Stripping

It was time to start stripping all the old paint from the top of the boat, so I broke out the paint stripper and got stuck in.

First I stripped the deck, seatbacks and tops, and the rear cabin wall. They are seen here part completed.

You can see that the companionway has been masked off to protect the interior from paint stripper, as have the lazarette hatches and the centreboard pendant cleat.

The footwell was next, as here. The drain holes are plugged with BlueTack to prevent paint stripper egress.

Next came the companionway. I masked off the drop board retainer to protect the interior. 

The transom skirt was next.

Then the hatches were unmasked.

The interior was protected with polythene sheeting, like this.

And then the hatch surrounds were stripped, as here.

And here are the hatch surrounds with the protective sheeting removed.

The footwell drain hole plugs were then removed. Here I am cleaning up the holes with a small round scraper.

Finally the areas where the main sheet block support pad and the centreboard pendant cleat are located were stripped. Like this.

That's the cockpit stripped clean, with the exception of the seatback lockers.

I am expecting them to be difficult to access and fully strip at the rear of the lockers, where the boom gallows support block gets in the way.

So I will now start stripping the cabin and forward deck, working on the seatback lockers in parallel and taking as long as required to strip them thoroughly.

Time for one of these.

Onwards and upwards!