More jobs done..!

Busy busy busy...

The weather last Sunday was perfect; sunny and bright, and as SWMBO was sleeping off the effects of a night duty I took myself down to "Papillon" for the day to get some of the jobs on the ever increasing list done...

Having pressure washed and cleaned the hull, I was keen to get some paint on the keels to forestall any more rust, so that was completed first..

Two coats of Hammerite later and they look a lot better... OK, it may not strictly speaking be a nautical/marine rust product but on a 30 year old boat that rests twice a day in mud with the consistency of graphite paste, is anyone going to really notice?

Job's a good'un... I reserve judgement until next year to see if it's had a positive effect...

While I was waiting for the first coat to dry I removed the old defunct solar panel (job #15).. done...

Having applied the second Hammerite coat, I completed job item #20....

I then started on the inside by looking at jobs #7 & #8 - the cabin headlining and forepeak headlining.

I came to the conclusion that there really was nothing I could do about the forepeak headlining - bottom line the foam backed vinyl was shot - the foam had crystallised and gone powdery, and the vinyl was sagging/dropping.. As the foam was shot there was no way to stick it back up again, so I decided to roll #8 into #7 and remove all of the cabin headlining with the exception of that closest to the hatchway so about half way down the cabin. This bit was in much better condition (it's stapled to backing board by the look of it) and it also hides the wiring from the mast.. when I'm finished, both sides, and the forepeak roof will be glossed white - with only the back half of the cabin roof still keeping the lining...

The following was taken at the end of the day (curtains have been put up temporarily) and shows the port side completed - because I need to do a repair on the deck/hull join (item #18) I also removed the forward shelf for easier access to the repair area.

As a beneficial by product that's where I plan to sleep, so removing the shelf has given me more shoulder room when I'm lying down (I'll sleep with my head forwards and partially in the anchor locker.. )

The following shows looking towards the forepeak - no idea what the black stuff is (it's not mould!) but is like a very thin glue layer, hard, which comes off with a helping hand from a paint scraper...

Port side is good to go - I took the glue back to clean surface with a wire brush attachment in my electric drill - it cleaned up quite quickly. I have the forepeak to finish off, and then the starboard side.

I'll leave all the starboard side shelves in situ, they also have a front cover to enclose them, but I will be replacing the sliding hatches I currently have with a fixed/hinged cover. The current sliding one's have always irritated...

PS. Interestingly, while digging around to do all this I found a TV co-ax cable under the port side quarter birth - no idea what it was for, but I'd like to trace it now!