Upright Again

In the past week, I finally turned the dinghy back to its upright position. That was done with a few slings from the rafters. I'd forgotten how big the boat was! It didn't take long to fill the gaps between the plywood decking and the old rub-rails. Sanding, priming and final colour is being painted now. I went to an upholstery shop and had some seat belt webbing made into the hiking straps. They should be ready tomorrow and installed when the paint is dry on the thwart. I thought the old post holding up the mast looked rather skimpy, so I took it out and made a new pedestal and post. I had earlier cut the tenon off the bottom of the mast as it was rotting away too. Now the mast has a much stronger socket to nest into. The pictures at the top show how she is coming together.

Rigging and steering

While I was dealing with the frustrations of the paints, I was able to work on the standing rigging and the rudder as well as the center-board.
The center-board was the biggest job as the old one had suffered enough to warrant replacement. I cut many strips of fir and glued them together making a board 2'x5' and about an inch thick. Took me a few hours to plane and sand it back to the right shape and thickness. That was taken to the band saw and the shape of the board cut out. Once the edges were covered in protective fiberglass cloth, that was sanded, faired and it is now ready for painting.
I had to buy new cables to make up the diamond-shaped support for the mast and was happy to locate a shop in town that made them up quickly and for a most inexpensive price! I was so impressed with their service, I had a new head stay made up too. I only hope my math was correct in determining the length! I found that the gooseneck was missing the post that slides inside the boom. Instead of buying a whole new part, I shaped a piece of aluminum rod and drilled it to hold a bolt. That rod now holds the boom securely! I felt such a rush when that worked out so well!
Duckworks in Texas was the best source for new rudder pintles. They have arrived and are waiting for the rudder to be stripped and repainted too.
In another week or so, the boat should be back upright and sitting on a trailer. Then I can fill the gaps in the decking and install hardware. Looking forward!

Painting and repainting

Another long gap between reports.
I have had a very frustrating time with the paints on the hull. Once I had finished scraping the old paints off, I filled a bunch of holes with epoxy and added a strip of fiberglass tape to the bottom chines. Once that was setting, I coated the entire hull with epoxy and let it cure for a few days. Extra filler was needed to fair the strips of tape.
I chose to add a coat of Zinsser paint as further protection before adding a sealer/primer from Benjamin Moore. The final coats looked glorious! I gave each of the coats lots of time to cure. When I went to reinstall the brass rub strips to the keel, I found the paint fairly slid off the hull! The paint guru was not much help, suggesting it just needs more time to cure. A week later, I was again at the hull with a scraper taking everything back to the epoxy. What a heartbreak!
I think the Benjamin Moore primer did not like the Zinsser for some reason.
Once the hull was stripped and again lightly sanded, I started the process again, this time skipping the 'Z' paint and using just the primer over the epoxy. As the weather is getting cooler, it is taking longer to cure, but finally those coats could not be scratched off with my fingernail.
Yesterday I applied the first coat of Benjamin Moore's latex exterior paint. Today it is still able to be scratched, so I am leaving it to tomorrow to see if it is cured enough to get a second coat. If it remains soft, I shall try the oil exterior paint in the same colour.