A familiar angle on our Didi 40 Cr but with the masking off the boot top
The next time we see the keel of our Didi 40 Cr it should be at the dock
Lots of toe rail cut and drilled ready for more coats of paint.
Epoxy glass wedges ready to be cut and drilled for stanchion packers and a plywood spacer for under the mast step
Elaine has surrendered her carport for the day while I epoxy coat more lids and locker bases. One of the bases is for the hot water system and I have to bolt the water tank to the base and then install them together. I think the same will be done on the fridge compressor base.
Progress seems painstakingly slow as there are no dramatic photos to show for the week’s effort. The daily trips to Somersby to fair the keel took up much of the day and painting under the deck the balance of the time.
By Friday afternoon the second side of the keel had three layers of filler sanded and faired and two coats of International Interprotect. On the underside of the keel there is now four layers of Interprotect and the first coat of antifouling so we can stand the keel on the base when we take it to the dock.
Now that the underside or the deck is painted I am pushing on with the bite and pieces needed to fit all the fittings to the deck and cabin top.
I have laminated up some epoxy glass wedged to go under the stanchion bases, sanded and pre drilled the toe rails and started making the packer for under the mast step. The epoxy glass wedges are three mm on the thin side and 9 on the thick side and will protect the deck from stanchion sticking through the hollow base.
I thought I had made good progress with the packer for under the mast but decided to add a second layer of plywood so that it does not taper to nothing at the rear edge. The extra layer has been cut and the glue will be cured by the morning ready to recommence shaping the taper.
Today I cut to length, sanded and pre drilled all the toe rails. The holes are at 200 mm spacing to make sure we get a nice bend around the gunwale. I had previously epoxy coated the timber and now they have a coat of pigmented primer. I suspect another two coats of primer will be needed as a minimum because on the plywood panels I am painting at the same time I can still see wood grain after two thick coats. I think it matter not whose brand you are using and the International recommendation of four coats of epoxy primer on the timber seems to be what is needed for areas subject to regular water contact. Yes the toilet pedestal is getting four coats of primer and then undercoat and top coat.
I do get some pleasure from looking at the top sides and when the wind blew the tarpaulin off the front of the boat during the week I thought it looked pretty smart so I took a photo for the blog.