Aggressively sanded first coat of primer in the quarter berth ceiling
2 mm of epoxy glass across the keel of our Didi 40 Cr to be sure to be sure.
Two coats of primer under the V berth deck of our Didi 40 Cr brightens up the whole area. The colour will be softened by the light grey mattresses and side cushions. The hatch fits just perfectly.
It is like groundhog day around our Didi 40 Cr yacht. Every day I wake up and have to sand the same parts of the boat. Sand the raw timber, sand the primer, sand the second primer, sand the undercoat but at least that should be the end of the cycle. Today for variety I sanded the topsides from stem to stern with 240 grit paper on the random orbital sander with the vacuum dust extraction. At least that was out in the open and I was able to stand for much of the operation. The topsides are now ready for the first coat of two pack polyurethane undercoat which will go on the first fine still day.
Inside I sanded the underside of the deck in the V berth area and in the lockers on both sides. That is a tricky operation requiring a certain flexibility and patience. The random orbital sander did help to speed up the job but there is still quite a big of hand sanding needed.
I completed the last of the filleting of the locker fronts to the hull and deck over the past two days so the underside of the deck and the fillet areas of the lockers got their first coat of primer. One more coat in the lockers and I will be able to undercoat the whole of the V berth area back to the mast step.
Back in the quarter berth I added 2 mm of epoxy glass to the last section of the keel. The keel now has either 12 mm ply or 2 mm of epoxy glass across the grain on the inside. This matches the 9 mm ply plus 1 mm of glass on the “V” on the outside of the hull forming a sandwich. The interior cross grain reinforcement is not required by the design but if it is a good idea for one side of the timber then it is even better on both sides.
The last task of the day was to add a second coat of primer to the roof over the V berth and take a photo. Using a roller and brush it is not too difficult and even inside the lockers the roller works quite well.
I have rescheduled the launch date to post Christmas. I never expected it would take a month to paint the deck but it did and I figure it will take a month to paint the insides even with the head start I have with primer over most of the furniture. I need to finish painting the undersides of the deck and cabin so that all the fittings can be bolted on. There is little point in launching on Christmas Eve and then going to Adelaide for the Laser sailing so mid january seems like a good time. The Dock was very happy to reschedule as they are very busy to Christmas and the mast manufacturer had not started so it seems they are both happy.
In the meantime the mainsail is finished ready for inspection and the boom bag should be done by the morning