First time under bare sky
These were very busy days: boathouse rebuild, bits & pieces for interior fittings, painting etc. I tried using the most of last days of my summer vacations.
Rudder blade and centerboard were shaped, to give them foil-like form.
I encapsulated them in 3 layers of epoxy, rolled wet-on-wet. First layer of pure epoxy, to saturate wood. Next two layers with graphite filler, to hopefully make the surface sturdy and scratch-resistant.
While this was curing I keyed, vacuumed and finally brushed second coat of varnish on boat’s interior.
Once graphite-epoxy was cured I cleaned amine blush with warm water and Scotch-brite, to prepare the surface for topcoat.
I might have added too much graphite - or did wrong something else - because the surface was very far from being smooth.
Sanding with 120-grit paper and another cleanup.
Rudder blade got a coat of Hempel Primer while centerboard was painted with yet another epoxy - Hempel Light Primer which I had leftovers after Motoko renovation. Contrary to WEST system epoxy this Hempel stuff is wetting very smoothly but is troublesome to use due to its rapid drying. If done correctly thou it leaves glass-smooth surface.
I made small copper toggles which hold hatches in place.
Tiller final shaping.
Finally came the time to lift the boat onto her trailer. Forecast promised two-days window of fine weather so I started early in the morning.
Front wall removed.
Louve lifted up, to remove the floor.
And the floor removed.
Lowered onto her trailer…
… and out, under the sky, for the first time!
With the boat out I could remove all mineral wool from walls and ceiling. Lousy job with lots of dust so haz-mat suit and respirator was in place.
I rebuilt the shed, adding some length so that the entire mast can fit with some margin. Two-wing doors will enable driving in & out the trailer with no problem.
I needed to leave the space between doors, to accommodate the trailer.
After reorganizing my new workshop I could continue remaining paint-jobs. Strongback became a bench.
Centerboard and rudder blade got their final (I hope) coat of paint.
Lastly I installed sheet cleats. I used Alladin-cleats made of Tufnol, my favourite wonder-material from 50’. I had them left after Meritaten. I want to use a ring on sheet, like Tim Cooke, so I made oak spacers to rise these cleats a bit from the gunwale.
Installation with Ettan, of course: even though Louve is a modern epoxy-plywood construction the rules of wooden boatbuilding still apply! Ettan, which is a Scandinavian specialty, is a mix of beeswax, tar and linseed oil. I use it whenever I want to waterproof contact faces under fittings but I still want to be able to remove them easily. And it smells so good!
Summary of next steps to follow.