More of the total 42 experience today (and until the boat leaves for Trawlerfest.) 3 of the guys worked almost 12 hour days yesterday. All during the day we have to keep doing some clean up – especially when there is a lot of sanding going on — just so we don’t get the dust all through the boat.

I had some emails yesterday about the engine room vents — specifically how to remove them. You can never say “all”, but on most of the boats we have had in here they were just attached with an adhesive caulk. (these were actually on with silicone – and you know how we feel about silicone!) To remove them, you start with a sharp, thin bladed putty knife to get it started. During removal you should introduce a little acetone to the caulk to help it release it’s bond. It is helpful to make a couple little wood wedges to start driving in. Don’t try to go too far too fast, these are just aluminum and you don’t want to bend the lip. To get a proper job, you will want to remove ALL the old paint, you don’t want the remaining old paint to release while it has new paint over it. After all the old paint is off and the surface is clean, you will need to put a primer on that is specifically made for metal or aluminum. This will keep the top coat on the vents for a long time.

We got the rub rails all cleaned up and the holes drilled in the new brass ones. Many of the holes from the old rubrail were damaged. We could have just caulked them but that wouldn’t be a professional repair would it? We used 3M Premium Filler to fill the holes. We aren’t going to gelcoat these — they will never be seen. When we put the new rubrail on we will drill the holes in the proper spots and the proper size. This will ensure a tight fit.

Here is what it looks like all cleaned up. Now let the greening begin!

We spent a considerable amount of time on the swim platform and related hardware. As you know, when you put any metal down close to the salt water, it is going to get a fair amount of corrosion and start looking a bit beat. The stainless back here we actually took a buffer to and brought it back to original. On the deck work, the hatches were removed and while off the boat it was a good time to do the repairs to them on the bench. It’s nice to have something that you don’t have to do on your knees!

John is evidently racing in the Shields Nationals this weekend over in Oxford. We only have a couple of days to finalize the work we did to his boat but we have to balance it out with the TF boats.