Spring dress
Normally, by the end of February I put Meritaten in her spring dress - I cover her up to waterline with foil, to minimise drying of her planks. This winter was so rainy and strange that I skipped that up to now. Spring dry winds are here since this week so it was high time to cover the hull.
To do that I needed to disassemble my mobile workshop. No more major woodworking this winter - we move to spring maintenance schedule.
I primed rusty spots on iron keel - in vicinity of three lead-filled openings which I was working on last year. Epoxy coat which covers iron was distorted here by flames and my pondering so iron has developed rust. Also the rudder - with too much antifouling on it - started to peal paint in few places. Next winter I will have to address it for sure.
I use iron-oxide linseed paint - järnmönja - as a traditional substitute for red lead. Too poisonous to use nowadays red lead was perfect to protect wood from decay. I still use it in small amounts - mostly to protect oak in mast step.
Cleaning after winter woodworking and shutting down my mobile workshop took a good part of day. After that I went to the cabin to work a bit on new table mount. I managed to stabilise it a bit further and adjusted mounting screws so that they are now flush with fittings, to avoid mast which is stepped close to them.
As a last thing I covered ceiling boards on both main berths with Owatrol D2. Initially I intended to leave them silk-textured after Owatrol D1 but changed my mind - glossy finish will lighten up the cabin and bring wood colour back to life.
Otherwise dull planks came back to colour instantly!
Tomorrow I plan to start preparing deck for new coat of paint.