On the Water

Once the boat was painted, I rolled it out into the yard and put on all the hardware then raised the mast. I had the local cable riggers make new stays and had to purchase a new turnbuckle for the head stay too. Installing the sail was next. I slid it up the mast and onto the boom, only to find the bolt rope had shrunk, leaving a big belly of material next to the boom/mast join. With advice from Westcoast Sail Repair, I cut the rope at the tack, spliced in an extra 18" and slid the sail along, flattening it as much as I could. The sail still has far too much belly, but it is much better than it was!
Before committing the boat with sails to the water, I took it with only the motor to the lake. After only five minutes of sitting on calm water, enjoying my accomplishments, I discovered the gap between the hull and the raised floor was filling with water. Paddled back to the ramp and pulled it out. Gallons of water had seeped in.
I took the boat off the trailer and removed the center-board then poured water into the floor cavity. Didn't take long to see it dripping back out through the center-board slot. A day or so of drying out then I sanded the joints around the bottom of the slot then gouged out the softer wood and slathered the whole area with epoxy and covered it with a strip of fiberglass. Once that had set up, I sanded it smooth and made sure the centerboard would still slide up and down.
Next trip to the lake was with Diana at the helm while I handled the sheets and did the major shifting from side to side for balance. There wasn't much wind but it was very exciting to hear the gurgles,feel the boat move and respond to changes in sheets and tiller. Back at the ramp, I found we'd still shipped a litre or two of water.
Back in the shed, I extended the epoxy repairs to the corners, bottom to top of the center-board slot.
Returned to the lake with Manfred and the outboard too. I think our total carry-aboard weight was around 500 lbs. Enough to make the dinghy feel more like a barge. We motored out to the more open part of the lake and eventually got some sailing in. I sat on the rail now and again, but mostly our weight on the floor was enough to balance it. Back at the ramp, I still drained a litre or two from the cavity.
Yesterday, the sun came out again and brought a bit of wind too. I took the dinghy by myself to the lake and sailed back in forth in fairly light winds. The boat was much more lively when lightly loaded. At the ramp, I drained out only a couple of spoonsful.
Next jobs are to find those final leaks, replace the sail battens, and decide if the boat is a keeper and if so, maybe order new sails too.

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.

Progress Report

In the week or so since I last reported here, I have done a few things. I finished painting the inside of the boat. I have chosen to keep the deck and interior an off-white colour. See if it shows up in the pictures. Once that was done, I was quite excited to replace the decks! That meant sealing the side tanks, so I also replaced the first pieces of hardware. They are the plates that support the two side stays. The are mounted on the forward end of each side tank and they required nuts on the backsides. I epoxied and screwed the largest deck pieces in place then used the air nailer to secure the side deck pieces. No twist to those boards. Latest thing was to invert the boat so I can get to work scraping the paint from the ugly black hull. The first few panels shed paint like leaves in autumn, but I have also encountered some patches where the paint sticks like grim death! I have used a heat gun and quite a few applications of stripper. Takes forever! The port side of the boat looks like the paint is in better condition. How to find out if it is solid enough to just paint over. Comments?

Primer Painting

Doesn't seem to matter how many times I filled and sanded the interior of the hull, when I painted, I still found areas that needed flakes removed or gaps filled. I left those exposed for further attention and painted the rest! The interior now has one coat of sealer to be followed by another coat of sealer, two of primer and at least two of top coat! The floatation bins at the sides of the hull will get the same treatment. The interior looks so much better now!

Paint Removal Completed

Finally, after working for a few hours most days, I have finished taking the old paint from the interior of the dinghy. I used mostly a scraper with a heat-gun to loosen the old paint. In places, the space was limited so an old chisel was used too. Yesterday I brought home a pressure washer to do the siding on the house, and while I had it, I tried it on the paint in the boat too. Worked very well on the paint in the side buoyancy tanks, but did nothing to the paint on the outside of the hull.
Tomorrow, I shall give the interior a good sanding then vacuum it out. I have the recommended primer/sealer to go on next.
I also need to fill some gaps in the softer decking support boards. Try epoxy with filler.