Painting the deck was easier then expected in curious location alongside the boat, suspended from the chain falls. We rolled on two layers of primer and then after puff sanding her with 280, we rolled on the finish coat of semi gloss white. One coat was all that was needed to get a nice surface. The deck beams were all in place from the week before, and we easily hoisted the deck up with the chain hoists, using carpet alongside the sheer to protect the paint finish. With some quick jig saw work by Brendan, the plywood was notched around the head bulkheads, fit into place, and tacked down.
Once organized, we broke out the white 5200 caulking and hoisted the foreward half of the deck to caulk the beams, then laid down the deck and fastened the plywood directly into the deck beams. Then the aft section as well. We didn't waste any time in cutting out the hatches, lazarette, and cockpit lockers. Then the excess hanging over the edges was rough trimmed with a jigsaw and then eventually cut closer with a hand saw, block plane, and finally sanding board.
At this point, everyone was feeling pretty good. I took a few days off to see my girlfriend, Amelia, in Washington DC for her birthday, and when I returned a coach house had been built and fit to the boat! But a lot of work was still needed. When I returned on Tuesday, the coach house was dismantled in order to install a series of Fir blocking around the perimeter of the coach house. This Fir blocking is fastened to the deck beams, and also glued down to the plywood deck. Then, 6 inches of bi-axial fiberglass cloth was used to even further secure these blocks, which will eventually hold in the coach house, to the deck.
Looking ahead, I dug out some old Wana that was brought to Pease Boat Works years ago by sail power from another country ( south america?) and milled out some nice long boards that will be used in the bulwarks.
The other big news circulating around the boatyard when I returned was the hole that Drew almost drilled through his hand with a Forsner bit. Fortunately, he didnt poke through the otherside, but he will be out of commission on the MC-30 until his hand heals. So we are essentially one man down.
With the fiber glass set up, we were able to put the coach house back on the deck and fasten it. All necessary bungs were placed and the following day was spent sanding.
Although the launch date hasnt been mentioned at the boat yard yet, the generally suspicion is in the air, and it is very exciting.
As a side note, I took a trip up to Orleans with Aflie to see the mast maker, and although no progress has been made yet, she will be going at it full force within the next week or so. I was very impressed with her shop and I expect to see a very wonderful mast come out of it.
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