Trailer | New Bow Roller

With the buoyancy problem solved in the lazarette, attention turned to applying the final coat of paint to the upper hull.

One obstacle remained, however. Spring has sprung, meaning that gardening is high on Mrs Boatbuilder's agenda. That always involves frequent access to the tool shed via my workshop, and disturbance to whatever I am working on.

This is not ideal when painting is underway, so another outstanding task has been completed instead.

When we first put the boat on its trailer it was immediately obvious that the foremost roller was too small.

In this pic you can see that it is too low and way too small.

I talked to the excellent Dave at SBS, who built my trailer. I asked him for a roller with a longer arm to replace the existing one, but he thought that would be a bad idea because being so long it could easily bend.

Instead he suggested making a bigger roller to attach further forward on the drawbar. I sent him a photo of PocketShip on the trailer, and he asked me to measure the height to the bow at the point shown on this pic.

It was 26.5cm.

SBS then made a new and bigger roller for me, with a narrow foot to fit the drawbar on my trailer. It sat on a shelf until now, waiting for the boat to go back outside.

So I installed it today, not being able to do any painting.

This is it.

That's another job ticked off the to do list!

Lazarette | Buoyancy Installation

The first thing I decided to do before starting painting again was to complete the installation of buoyancy in the lazarette.

I started this in February, before we left for the southern hemisphere. I did harbour hopes of completing the work before our departure, but as usual I was being overly optimistic!

I would surmise that this requirement was originally overlooked when building the prototype, because as far as I can remember it isn't mentioned in the manual.

It only appears on drawing #11, which shows slabs of closed cell foam situated underneath the footwell, between the sole and the bottom of the hull.

It calls for 1.38 cubic feet of foam, or 88lb (40kg) of flotation.

I have seen photos of foam sheets jammed unceremoniously in place, and it looks awful!

Other builders have solved the problem in two ways.

Some have extended the footwell sides down to the bottom panels and others have extended the footwell sole horizontally out to the hull side panels, thereby creating an airtight space.

I only realised that something would be necessary after I had completed the hull, so I had left it too late for either option.

I thought about it for months, and eventually decided to strap buoyancy bags underneath the footwell.

This would allow me to remove the buoyancy for cleaning and maintenance, or if extra space was required.

I found that a pair of Crewsaver 18 litre buoyancy bags just about satisfied the requirement, at 36 litres in total.

My plan was to secure the bags in place with webbing of the type used for sailing dinghy toe straps.

Here are the inflated bags.

And here are the fittings to hold them in place.

We require two pairs of strapping bridges, fastened to the footwell sides with 5mm pan head screws.

The straps are made from 25mm braided tape, secured with two pairs of adjustable sliding buckles.

I did a test fit by holding the bridges in place with Blu Tack, just to see if it worked.

Like this.

And here is a close up of the buckle.

That all seemed to work just fine!

So, on our return from Tasmania I very carefully measured out and marked up the position of the strapping bridges, and drilled the pilot holes for the screws.

This is the tool kit required for the job.

Then the fittings were installed and the bags strapped in place.

This is the starboard buoyancy bag, fully installed.

And here again is a buckle in close up.

The final task was to mark off the required length of the straps, like this.

And then cut them both to equal lengths with the hot knife, using an upturned cup as an anvil, like this.

That's it. Job done!

The bags and straps were then removed and stored away to await refitting when painting is complete.

Back In The Workshop!

We returned from our trip to Tasmania a short while ago, so it was time to get back in the workshop and get ready to finish PocketShip.

First I tidied whatever mess I left behind when we left in early February, and put all the tools and paint away.

Then I vacuumed and washed the floor to get rid of accumulated dirt and dust, in readiness for painting.

Lastly I washed all the surfaces to be painted on the boat.

This wasn't a lot of fun, so I finished up with with one of these.

It's good be back. Cheers!

Ballast Bags | Making & Filling

With time on my hands and unable to do much in the way of painting I decided to make the ballast bags.

The build manual states that a minimum of 36kg should be stowed either side of the centreboard case, beneath the removable floorboards. It adds that more might be required for sailing solo or lightly loaded, and suggests that adding 50% more would not be too much.

I decided to go for 100kg in total and see how she sails. I can always add or remove ballast, as required.

I purchased 100kg of lead pellets many moons ago, when I thought I was close to launching. They are offcuts from some manufacturing process; small and ideal for this purpose.

This is what they look like.

At the same time I selected a waterproof material called Phifertex to make the bags, and worked out that I would need fourteen bags - ten holding 8kg and four holding 5kg.

The bags would need to be 13" long and 6 1/2" wide to fill the bilge compartment, so I cut enough 13" squares to make the bags. They were ready to go when needed.

The sewing thread needed to be waterproof and rotproof, and suitable for use on a domestic sewing machine. I found that this type of thread is called V69, and I purchased a spool of the Invincible brand.

The services of Mrs Boatbuilder were now required. I have absolutely no idea how to operate a sewing machine, but she is an ace.

Here she is sewing the sides of the bags together.

And here are some empty bags. You can see that we left a gap in one corner to fill them with lead.

The bags were then filled using a ladle and a funnel to pour the pellets into each bag, like this.

I clamped each filled bag shut until they could all be sealed. Here they are.

Luckily the sewing machinist was available immediately, and here she is sealing the bags.

We took the machine into the workshop rather than move 100kg of lead into the house and back again.

And here is the finished article.

Very neat and tidy.

And miraculously this entire activity was accomplished in a single day, which is completely unheard of in this build!

That was fun.

I stashed the finished bags away in a corner, ready for installation at launch time. Whenever that might be... 

Dorade Box Interiors | Applying Gloss

The interiors of the Dorade boxes had received five coats of primer, so I now applied the first coat of gloss.

I painted the rear faces through the ventilator holes with a long handled brush, made by taping a brush to a stirring stick.

Here it is.

The rest of the interiors were painted with a brush and a roller via the inspection hatches in the cabin wall.

The finish doesn't matter too much since the inside surfaces are not visible, but I will still try to make them presentable.

Companionway Hood Interior | Applying the Final Coat

I wanted to complete the interior of the companionway hood, so when the finished top and bottom surfaces were cured I painted the sides.

I applied four coats, sanding with an abrasive nylon pad between coats.

I did the same to the fourth coat, but I wet sanded the side areas which would be visible with a P400 grit. The rearmost parts of the sides are visible when the slide is open.

This is how it looks after the fifth and final coat.

I'm pleased with that. Another task I can tick off as complete!

Tabernacle | Reapplying the Final Coat

I thought it would be easy to complete the show coat on the tabernacle before we leave for the southern hemisphere.

So I wet sanded the whole thing with a P400 grit to get a good surface, as instructed by the technical instructions. Like this.

Then I applied the fifth coat to the outside faces, adding 5% Epifanes Easy Flow to condition the paint.

I thought this would work on a small surface area, but it didn't. A mixture of orange peel finish, brush marks and dry edges marred the results.

Here it is.

I'm not sure if the relative humidity was the problem, or the fact that the paint was several weeks old. I could see and feel it was not flowing out as expected.

So off it all came. Here I am wet sanding the new paint.

Here is the tabernacle, ready for fresh paint.

I am not sure when or even if I will try again before we leave. But I will certainly use fresh paint...

Onwards and upwards!

Seatback Lockers | Applying the Final Coat

It has become obvious since the previous post that I will not be able to apply the final coat of gloss to the upper hull until March, when we return from our travels.

It's disappointing but I will be much more confident knowing that the painting will be done under the correct conditions of temperature and relative humidity.

In the meantime I have been working on some tasks that don't require any special conditions and aren't dependent on the final coat being in place.

The first of these was completing the seatback locker interiors.

Four coats of gloss had already been successfully applied so I prepared the interiors for their final coat.

Only the bottom, back and forward faces are visible and these were wet sanded with a P400 grit, as stipulated by Epifanes. Like this.

The rest of the interiors are not visible and are very hard to access so I just prepared  them with a nylon abrasive pad.

Gloss was then applied by roller and brush and the visible surfaces tipped out.

For such a small area the humidity is not a factor, and the results were excellent.

This is the port locker.

They look great and on reflection it was easier to do this before the finish coat in the cockpit because there is no need to worry about paint drips and dribbles.

Something is at last completed!

Upper Hull | Final Coat Status

I mentioned in a recent post that I had contacted the guy at BoatPaint UK where I now source all my painting products. He has been really helpful.

I asked him what he thought about having low relative humidity in the workshop, and how it would affect paint behaviour.

He said he had never heard of it causing problems, and didn't think it would matter too much.

Grateful as I am for this advice, I am sure that it would be a bad idea to ignore the very clear Epifanes instructions on this matter i.e. do not apply paint when the relative humidity is less then 50%

Knowing my luck, I would be the first to find out that it really does matter!

Here is the dilemma, shown by the readings on my thermometer/hygrometer.

It is now so cold here that I have to heat the workshop to make it habitable. The top screen shows that the working temperature is now 22°C, but it fell to 10°C overnight which is the lowest recommended for painting.

Heating the workshop causes the relative humidity to fall to 30% or less (lower screen), and this is where the problem lies. I can't risk a flawed finish. I really don't want to have to repaint the final coat!

We are going to the southern hemisphere for the whole of February, and the chances of the weather improving before we leave are very low.

So the final coat might have to wait until March, which is very frustrating. I really thought painting would be complete by Christmas, but not for the first time have I been over optimistic!

I will complete what other tasks I can in the next couple of weeks.

Onwards and upwards!

Companionway Hood & Seatback Lockers | Glossing Interiors

I started to apply gloss to the interior of the companionway hood some time ago, when I started painting the upper hull.

It has to be done in two stages - the top and bottom in the first, and the sides in the second.

The top and bottom faces require a long handled 6" roller to reach the front of the hood.

This is it.

It is very effective. No one will be able to see the interior of the hood so I made no attempt at tipping out the gloss. A rolled finish will suffice.

When the top and bottom are fully cured I will gloss the sides.

I was initially worried that glossing the seatback locker interiors would be tricky, but a bit of thought and ingenuity made it straightforward.

I used a small brush with the handle cut off short to paint the inside face of the seatbacks. They are not visible so the finish is not critical.

Then I used a 6" roller to paint the visible faces i.e. the front and back walls and the floor, tipping out with a soft brush.

Here is the tool set.

This works quite well. At time of writing three coats of gloss have been applied.

It is taking a long while for the paint to fully cure, due to overnight temperature drops, but the finish is going to be excellent.

Here is a view of the port locker interior.

I think it is an advantage that the final coat has not yet been applied to the cockpit decks. It doesn't matter if I drip paint onto it!

Main Sheet Block Support Pad | Applying Primer

The pad that I made to receive the main sheet ratchet block had been sitting on a shelf for months, so I used some left over primer to paint it.

Here it is.

Also in the pic are six small square pads which are required to fit the ventilators. See early posts for their purpose.

Dorade Boxes | Priming Interiors

While waiting for a decision on how to proceed with the final coat of paint on the upper hull I started work on the remaining parts of the boat.

The first was to apply primer to the Dorade box interiors.

To do this I initially decided to paint them through the ventilator hole in the cabin roof. I devised a brush with an extra long handle to do so.

Here it is.

It didn't work particularly well, so I switched to priming with a 6" roller through the inspection hatch holes.

This is it.

That worked much better.

It's impossible to take a photo of the interiors, so I won't try.

At time of writing the fourth coat has just been applied. One more and they will be ready for gloss.

Upper Hull | Final Coat Hiatus

I gave a lot of thought to how I should approach the fifth and final coat of gloss on the upper hull.

Assuming that I would be able to achieve a good finish, I wanted also to minimise dust interference.

This is of course impossible to eliminate in a busy shared workspace with not very much room.

I knew that I should not try to clean up shelving, stored parts, cupboard surfaces and so on. To do so would just redistribute the dust, so I just left it all well alone.

The floor was a different matter, however. It is always dirty, with mud and leaves from the garden. And the non slip mats are full of dust after months of work on the hull.

So I got rid of the mats, and vacuumed the floor thoroughly.

Then I washed it with a mop and bucket. This is them.

I did it twice, to get it as clean as possible.

I will do it again immediately before the final coat, to lay any dust that has formed. This is a trick that I picked up from a CLC video on how to varnish a kayak. Keeping the work area damp underfoot stops dust from rising.

Now, it has turned pretty cold here in the UK in recent weeks and I was thinking about temperature in the workshop when I am painting.

It gets warm very easily using a radiator to heat the room, but I was a bit concerned to note that the relative humidity drops a lot.

The technical data for the mono-urethane gloss states that it should not be applied at lower than 10°C, or less than 50% relative humidity.

This is what my thermometer / hygrometer is showing now.

I have a temperature of 21°C, which is fine. But the relative humidity is only 35%. Which is not fine.

The air is very dry, which will cause the paint to 'flash off' quickly i.e. its solvents will evaporate rapidly leaving dry edges and brush marks.

We definitely do not want that to happen! I don't really know what to do, so I have emailed the guy at BoatPaint UK who has been extremely helpful so far.

I may have to wait until the weather improves. In the meantime I have compiled a list of everything that needs to be complete before the boat can be moved outside again, and noted which tasks can be done in advance of painting.

This is the list.

There are just 21 activities left to complete, which is amazing! Those highlighted in yellow can be performed now, so I've got things to keep me busy.

I never really paid much attention to humidity before when painting. I'm so pleased I have at last realised how important it is …

Various Parts | More Wet Sanding

Before I packed the sanding gear away I thought I would prepare some of the remaining components for their final coat of gloss.

These are the drop boards and the companionway slide.

Here I am wet sanding the drop boards with a P400 grit.

And here I am doing the same to the companionway slide.

The tabernacle and the rudder still require several more coats, so they can wait a bit longer.

We're getting there!

Upper Hull | Taping For Gloss

When the upper hull had been fully wet sanded it was time to get ready for the final coat of gloss. That meant retaping all the rails.

So I used 3M 218 Fine Line to cover the edges and 3M gold Professional to cover any bare Sapele.

Here are the starboard rub and toe rails, ready for gloss.

And this is the transom.

Part way through preparation for the fifth coat I decided to divide the task into smaller, separate areas.

This was to allow me to take my time and not rush to get large areas covered all at once.

I would be able to concentrate more on the quality of finish rather than worry about the paint curing too quickly.

So I taped off the forward deck well, like this.

I divided the cockpit into the footwell and the decks, like this.

And lastly I taped off the cabin roof and companionway hood. Like this.

I think this will make the final coat easier to apply.