Shalimar Spa IV, when is it our turn?

Norsand Boatyard from Mount Parihaka, we are in the white tent on the right.

I haven't mentioned the work on the boat for two months, the time flies! If you read my previous article you will know why! I often say poor Ryan needs three brains, one for his company (in the morning), one for the boat (in the afternoon) and one for me and the baby (all the time!). Many things have been started and have progressed well but there are still many things to do ... and we thought we would be here for 3 months! This makes 4! We are guessing another two months before returning to the water, and had hoped to return with everything done, but it will not be the case. We will focus on the hull and deck and maybe launch without masts and bowsprit. This will provide some relief, for Ryan's time and for our wallets,  since when he does not have time to do things we have to pay someone to do it. The spars would remain at the boat yard and Ryan could come work on them in the afternoons (when it's not raining) with less pressure because it won't matter as much when it's finished! While I could finally prepare the nest for our little tadpole. If all goes well we hope to take a short break from the boat in December  to recharge our batteries, see the country and enjoy the time we have with just the two of us.

And now a little review of the work done!

Under the waterline

We have not touched the paint at all, it will come when the deck is completed and the chemicals are so strong that I would probably not do any of it. Even if we haven't been working on the hull, there was still working being done by Noel. You remember I told you two months ago that we had removed the long copper bolts that attach the outside of the hull with the inner structure and in this process we had to sacrifice a piece that was covering some bolts. Noel has made us a new piece out of Purple Heart (Amarante in French) to replace the old one. He also made "sorcerer soup", as Alex calls it, (a mixture of tar, pitch and red lead) to pour into the bolt holes, a small plug is inserted into the hole on the outside so that the mixture (which looks like a dark wax once cured) can be poured in the hole from the top and creep into all the cracks and seal the wood. This will protect the new copper bolts he is installing and help prevent water from entering and corroding the metal.

This problem was partly caused by the fact that our main mast sits directly on the keel, causing too much stress to this part of the hull. As I already said, Noel proposed to add a second pair of spreaders on the main mast to reduce the load, but he didn't think it would be enough. Since our mast sits on a relatively small portion of the structure, Noel recommended we add a mast step, which would be a large timber that distributes the load over a larger portion of the boats structure. This will change the cabin floor inside, adding a step up right before the bed.

What we hade at the beginning, the little hole

in the center is where the mast was connecting

Note the level with the floor

Work in progress

New mast step almost finished, now compare

the level with the floor 

On deck

After being disappointed because we were hoping to find Rosawa to redo the deck (one-tenth the price of teak), we finally bought teak "Grade B", the price hurt the budget but could not be avoided. The wood we bought comes from BBS Timber, we can only recommend this great company, they are serious, available and they can even deliver, and allow you to select the boards! Ryan went to work planning the layout this week, it's hard to imagine but it is truly a headache! What remains is to define the margins (the space along the edges and around objects).

Otherwise a lot of things have changed in the cockpit. Ryan finished the fiberglass in the well in the middle of the deck, the plywood has been glued and screwed down. My hubby was pleased by modifying two elements of the cockpit he did not like.

The back of the cabin (which faces us when we are sitting in the cockpit) was finished with plywood in rough condition. Ryan removed 4mm from the surface and then glued wood strips of sapele (mahogany very close to our original boat) stained with Uroxys. The result is really beautiful but the glue squeeze out was a bit overwhelming as it setup faster than our test and was too hard to scrap easily by the time we got to it!

The cabin cockpit view, Ryan began to withdraw

a layer of plywood in the center right.

After the passage of the infernal machine

Finish with a hand plane before sanding any

the surface.

Applying pressure for the gluying part

Ryan made the sides too just to match of course!

Work in progress

All the pieces in place ready to glue!

The second aesthetic element is at the back of the cockpit, the inside of the transom was covered with plywood, but it had suffered, took on moisture, and the paint cracked regularly because of it. Ryan hated it! It was therefore decided to replace it with two wooden planks (it was almost impossible to find a board long enough to do it in one piece). At the same time we had a look behind the plywood and strengthend the structure. The result is beautiful and I guessed, it'll make more varnish that's for sure! But there is one who is so happy!

You can see what it looked like behind me (in white)

new piece just glued (left)

result once finished!

Go one more part varnish!

We started scrapping seriously the old varnish on the boat. At the rail, there were many places where it had cracked and allowed water to infiltrate. It's funny to see the boat like that, it looks like the wood is bare (which is not true). We are still in the middle of the process and it is long, especially at the taffrail (with its small wooden columns full of details). The bulk of the sanding on the flat parts is quite fast, but you can spend hours on tiny details! It is beginning to make me turn a little cuckoo.  However, it is progressing well, all the new elements are stained, the cabin was re-stained because Ryan did not like the first result he obtained (too many marks) and is ready to be varnished. We hope to finish the entire rail this week and have at least stained it in order to focus on the deck next week.

Old varnish at the front, scrapped at the back

"naked" wood

Wood after one cought of red primer/stain

PHEW! Needless to say, as I said in the title I wonder when it will be our turn to a spa!

PS: The baby continues to grow we will (hopefully) know the sex on October 25, it is getting closer! I have made a gift registery for those who have asked. I will publish when we know what we're expecting.