BIG update

After an exciting two month un-expected semester abroad in Bermuda I was sad to leave but very excited to get working on the boat again. I brought back with me a couple of souvenirs. First, a name plate that I had carved at my friend Felixs house. They gave me a piece of 250 year old Bermuda cedar that was part of a building located on Front street in Hamilton, the countries capitol, to carve it out of. I then painted the name of the boat, Why Knot, in gold. The second item is a carbon fiber cup that I made. This will be essential for the boat to break the 6.25kt barrier. This is kind of like the speed of light for Pearson 26s. All joking aside I thought it was a fun project. Pictured below is the name plate and carbon cup. 

The first visit back to the boat was slightly disheartening. During my time away both my dad and my friend Connor checked in on the boat multiple times, including a couple weeks before I returned. Every time they went the tarp looked pretty good. When I got to the boat for the first time the whole thing was a mess. It was quite windy a couple days earlier and I think that storm ended the cover. Luckily not much water had made its way into the boat and all is well. 

I then got restocked with supplies from TotalBoat and it was back to work. The first activity was painting all the brown fake vinyl wood white. For this I used TotalProtect, a two part epoxy paint that is very durable. I applied three coats, sanding in-between coats when they had dried for too long. Here you can see the before and after for painting. The white really pops and makes the small cabin feel a bit larger.

I also finished up sanding the old green deck paint. I sanded it with 80 grit sand paper to knock off the loose material and provide an even surface for the new nonskid paint to bond. Next step - fairing the cockpit sole and painting some sweet new paint on there

With the help of my mom we sanded the old waterline off in preparation for a new boot stripe. 

Next, I applied a second coat of grey epoxy bilge paint to the sail locker and starboard cubbies. This will fully cover these areas, protecting them well from the sails and gear getting tossed in for years to come. 

Many months later the desk, table, compression posts and hatch are all completed. The desk, table and hatch were all scraped down to bare wood. For the desk and hatch I scraped off the old varnish and sanded to 320. I then filled in the cracks in the hatch with many rounds of TotalBoat penetrating epoxy. Once that cured I applied two coats of Wood Sealer and four coats of Gleam 2.0 varnish, roughing it up in-between coats with Scotch-Brite and sanding with 320 grit before the final coat. The change is especially noticeable in the hatch. It looks almost new. For the desk I striped all the varnish, sanded to 320 and then stained it mahogany to match the rest of the interior. I then applied Wood Sealer and Gleam 2.0 varnish to complete it. Finally, for the compression posts I sanded the original varnish with 320 grit and applied a couple more refresher coats. 

The final project that I began was the keel. The keel is iron and was quite rusty when I got the boat. Also, at the keel-hull joint there was some separation and the sealant was no longer doing its job. My plan for the keel was to go over it with a scraper and TotalStrip to knock the bottom paint off. This stuff basically turns bottom paint into water in 15 mins. Then, grind as much of the rust off the keel as possible with a wire brush on an angle grinder and remove the loose sealant. Once the old sealant is gone I will apply new SEAL, fair the keel with TotalFair, fair the keel-hull joint with TotalFair, and then barrier coat the keel with TotalProtect before applying bottom paint. This weekend I ground down the keel, applied SEAL to the starboard side and applied TotalFair to the keel. It was quite a laborious task but the keel looks much better already.