D-4

Grandpa just left; we worked real hard these last three days.  Last coat of varnish on the wood frames;  quite pleasing.  

Then we moved on to the hatch installation job.  JF had underestimated the time needed to clean them prior to installation, and that’s an important step:  The best sealer will only bond as good as the surface beneath it.  So after a full day of cleaning (thanks Germain!) they came right back to almost-new .  

  Then it’s the install per se.  In the case of hatchs, metal to metal and screwed in place, the strength and elasticity of Dow 795 and Sika 295 are overkill, we opt for Sika 291.  Still not resitant to UV but it doesn’t matter, the joints will be painted with the deck. 
 

The two smallest hatchs have a flange that penetrate the deck, on top of being all the way aft on the cabin top and protected behind the dodger:  They’ll go in without mechanical fasteners, with the leftover tube of Dow 795 from this summer;  No screws, no rust.

Then, insulation:  The tests we had run with can sprayed insulation were conclusive:  Too long, too complicated, too expensive, to hard to get a consistant result.  We opted for plan B instead, which proved excellent:  A sheet of insulation is cut to fit all the holes, very tight and hard to get.  Then you remove them and shoot can sprayed foam behind and close back up.  Fill in the cracks with the leftover.  

The next day you clean up with a knife and do a second application of foam if needed.

D-Day minus 7

Only 7 more days of work before we start the cleanup-closedown-protect operation on the boat.  It’s been sunny and warm all week without a drop of rain forecasted till Sunday.  It is a rare chance not to be missed in Quebec in September/October.  We finalized the wood frames, lots of sanding, wood-filling, resanding, taping but finally it is done:  2 coats of epoxy sealer on the back, 2 coats (out of 3) of varnish on the front.  It is incredible to think we were going to throw all that rotting pile of wood to the garbage and start anew!  Properly revarnished old wood is so rich.  You can see the age of the boat, the old darkened wood, the blackened wood, some new light colored wood that replaced old one, too rotten to keep.  We can see the patches, here because there used to be a windshield wiper, there because JF had to chisel it out last year.  Once well sanded and varnished, it says “boat that’s well loved” and it’s cheaper and faster than new frames!

On the program tomorrow: Last coat of varnish on the frames, finish up insulation around the hatch boxes, clean-up and installation of the hatches proper.  Busy day ahead of us.