Varnish and Epoxy Work

April 23, 2018

I spent some time in the evening moving the project along by coating the skegs and daggerboard trunk supports with another coat of Epifanes varnish - sanding the previous coat with 320-grit paper and wiping down the pieces with a solvent.  I also filled a small area on the blue Dhow that I had missed in previous fill sessions but that I had noticed during application of the 4th coat of primer.  

I also applied another coat of epoxy to the daggerboard trunks.  The db trunks are ready for paint application (after the epoxy cures and I give them a rough sanding).  The final task for the evening was to sand down the fill work on the blue Dhow's seating, and to apply a thinned coat of varnish.  As I had done with the daggerboard trunk supports and the skegs, I applied a heavily thinned sealer coat of varnish; subsequent coats will be tinned by 10%.

Sorry, no pics this evening.

Total Time Today: 1.5 hrs

Primer Coats 3 & 4, Daggerboard Trunk Supports, and Varnish Work

April 22, 2018

Even before breakfast!, I was out sanding the Dhows and prepping for their 3rd coat of primer (Interlux Primekote).  I hand-sanded the hulls with 120-grit paper, and once completed, headed back over to the shop to mix a pot of paint.  While the paint base and hardener were chemically reacting, I vacuumed the hulls and then followed that with a thorough wipe down with a solvent.  The 3rd coat went on without issue; breakfast followed.

After breakfast and a cup of coffee, I headed back out to the shop.  The first order of business was to fill some of the damage on the blue Dhow's middle and forward seats.  I mixed a small amount of epoxy to wet out the areas that I needed to fill (gouges and cracks).  With the mahogany sanded and cleaned with a solvent-laced rag, I wet out the areas with the "neat" epoxy, thickened the balance of the epoxy with West System's 403 microfibers and filled the damaged areas.  I clamped the two portions of the seats that had cracks and then set them aside to cure.  The seats were in fine enough condition to clean, repair and varnish.

I moved on to the daggerboard trunk supports.  The white Dhow required a new one, since it was being converted to a sailing Dhow; the blue Dhow also required a new one, as its db trunk support was broken into two pieces.  I selected a scrap piece of teak that would enable me to pull both db trunk supports from it, and then began laying out for the cuts.

In a few passes on the table saw, I had two blanks from which to construct the trunk supports.

I took an angle off the aft-end of the old support (more of a cosmetic cut), moved the table saw blade to match the angle, and then cut both pieces.  I then took the angle off the new daggerboard trunks since the supports would mate to their respective trunk - more to come on that.

I arrived at the lengths of the horizontal supports, marked them at the width of the daggerboard trunk (2"), and then removed that material: I ran a jigsaw down the length of the trunk support, stopping at a point where the aft-end of the trunk would rest.  I then drilled a hole for the jigsaw and remove the interior portion of the trunk support.

I grabbed the bevel and transferred the angle I had taken off of the db trunk to the trunk support.  I clamped the trunk support onto the work surface, and removed the material using a fine-tooth saw.

A test fit of the daggerboard trunk support showed a bit of sanding left to do, and after a couple additional test fittings, I had completed the desired dimensions.

Next, I softened all of the exterior edges with 80-grit and then 120-grit paper.

With a thorough vacuuming and wipe down, I moved into varnishing the skegs and the daggerboard trunk supports with Epifanes clear varnish, thinned by roughly 25%.  All vanished pieces with receive 5 coats through the project.

The first coats will be thinned more so than the subsequent ones, which will enable good penetration of the varnish into the wood.

With the first coats of varnish complete on the skegs and db trunk supports, it was time to get back over to the Dhows for their 4th coat of primer.

As I had done for the previous coats, I hand-sanded with 120-grit paper, vacuumed the hulls, and wiped them down with a rag dampened with solvent.  The 4th coat went on without issue and prior to the impending rain.

Total Time Today: 6.5 hrs

2nd Coat of Primer, New Skegs, and Seating Work

April 21, 2018

I had every intention of waking early and starting on the first of two coats of primer for the day; however, the deluge that was coming down at the time diverted my interest to the waffle iron, so I settled into buttery maple syrup with a side of waffle.

I was a bit annoyed with the set-back, but I decided that I would move on to doing some wood work that needed to get done.  I went ahead and mixed a pot of Interlux Primekote, and while the paint was  in its induction period, I cleaned the hulls of sanding residue.  

It didn't take me long to move across the two hulls with the 6" foam roller, and the excess paint was applied to the now freshly painted yet tacky hulls.  I cleaned up the painting materials and then headed back over to the shop.

I culled out a scrap piece of teak that would allow me to pull both skegs from it.  The teak was perfect for this application - a marine hardwood, with plenty of natural oils to protect it from moisture damage.

I used the old skeg from the blue Dhow as a pattern, tracing the form onto the new piece of teak stock.  I then used a jigsaw to remove the new skeg, making sure to cut a bit outside the cut line in order to allow me to fit the wooden skeg onto the hull. 

Within a few test fits and a bit of sanding to remove the high spots, I had the white Dhow's skeg nicely fitted along the bottom of the hull.

With the surfaces nicely mated, I then moved on to cutting out the handle.  I took a measure of the radius of the handle, transferred it to a compass, and applied the radius to the new skeg.  

With a hole saw sized to the proper diameter of the skeg handle, I remove two plugs on either end of the handle.  With the plugs removed, I unclamped the new skeg and connected the holes with the jigsaw.

I sanded all edges of the skeg handle and the skeg itself.  This completed the first of the two new skegs.  I repeated the fabrication process for the blue Dhow.

The new skegs were now complete, with the only remaining work to do is drilling for fasteners.  Once the priming is complete on both hulls, I will then mark and drill for the fasteners.  I purchased new fastener kits from The Anchorage, Inc. for both skegs, as they come with a rubber washer and are sized with specific size wood screws....it was just easier to order them than to take measurements, etc.  Anyway, with the skegs done, I grabbed the blue Dhow's seating (middle and forward) and returned to the shop.

I disassembled the seats - removing the daggerboard trunk to seat support from the middle seat, and the bronze seat knees from both seats.  I sanded the seats with 80-grits discs on the RO sander to prepare for epoxy work and varnish.  I decided to salvage these old mahogany seats as part of the vintage feel of the Dhow, so they will have some "classic charm" in their appearance. 

Total Time Today: 6.5 hrs

Sanding First Coat of Primer

April 20, 2018

In preparation for the second coat of primer, I took the time this afternoon to water-wash the previous session's skim coat of fairing compound (to fill pinholes in the patched areas of the hull), and then sanded the hulls by hand.

I plan to make an early start of it in the morning, with the goal of getting two coats of primer on in the day....and possibly two coats on Sunday.

Total Time Today: 1 hr

Filling Pinholes on the Dhows & Epoxy-coating the Daggerboard Trunks

April 18, 2018

After the first coat of primer paint, especially a white primer, all of the pinholes from the previous rounds of fairing compound are more easily revealed.  Before moving on to the second round of primer, I needed to tackle filling these pinholes.

Most of the areas requiring another skim coat of fairing filler were on the blue Dhow- names!  we need names for these boats! 

Walking around the Dhows, inspecting closely, I marked the areas requiring further work with a pencil.  I then roughed up the surface with 150-grit paper, by hand, vacuumed the surface and then wiped it down with a solvent.

I mixed a small batch of epoxy and thickened it with West System 410 microlight, and squeegeed it on with several passes, making sure all of the small holes were filled.

I finished up on the fairing application, and the headed back to the shop.

Picking up where I had left off the day previous, and now that the varnished bungs were set and cured, I knocked down the portion of the bungs standing proud of the trunks' surfaces.

With that complete, I turned to prepping for epoxy-coating.

I laid out the db trunks on the outfield table, and then thoroughly wiped them down with a solvent to remove all sanding dust and debris.

I worked one trunk at a time, in the following process:  mix a small batch of neat epoxy and paint it on the surface using a foam brush, thicken the remaining epoxy with 410 microlight and spread it into any small gaps in the seems and gouges on the surfaces.  A quick and easy evening of Dueling Dhows.

Total Time Today: 1.5 hrs

First Coat of Primer & Daggerboard Trunk Assembly

April 17, 2018

I love daylight saving time!  To meet my deadline for completion of the Dhows, I'm going to need the time post-work.  I grabbed a few hours to get the first coat of Interlux Primekote primer on the Dhows.  I began by water-washing Sunday's epoxy work, and then took a towel to the hulls to dry them.  I wasted no time setting up the RO sander and 80-grit discs to the vacuum and got to work sanding the worked areas.  I finished off the fairing task by hand-sanding the areas requiring a bit more precision and patience.  With the sanding finished, I then vacuumed the hulls thoroughly and wiped the hulls with a damp towel.  I finished the surface prep by removing the balance of the sanding debris (contaminates) by wiping the hulls with a towel dampened with a solvent.

I mixed 12 ounces of the Primekote (3:1 ratio of base to hardener, respectively), and set the sealed container of primer aside.  While I waited for the induction period, I took the opportunity to remove a lingering fastener on the transom of the white Dhow.  This fastener was one of two securing the aft lifting ring.  With the fastener removed, I roughed up the surface under the head of the screw and cleaned it with solvent.  

I made my way back over to the shop at just about the time to add the 2333N thinning solvent, at 20%.  I outfitted myself with a paint tray and a foam roller...and applied the first of 5 to 6 coats of the primer.  I will be hand-sanding between coat to rough up the surface, creating a mechanical bond for the subsequent coat, all the while building up the surface and filling the crazed and cracked hulls.  Even with the application of fairing compound on the primary damage areas, there are still very small  imperfections that the primer will fill during the build up of coats.  Satisfied with the first coat of primer on the Dhows, I set off again for the shop to carry on with the daggerboard trunks.

I roughed sanded the epoxy coated pieces to remove ridges and rough spots, and then assembled the daggerboard trunks after wiping those pieces down to remove the sanding dust.  I grabbed the bag of leftover bungs I had made for the brightwork on Joule, and pulled 16 out for installation on the db trunks.

I painted a liberal coating of varnish on the bungs and then hammered them into place.  When the varnish has dried, I will remove the proud portion, and then coat the exterior with neat epoxy.  After installation of the two trunks in each of the Dhows they will be painted.

Total Time Today: 3.5 hrs

Continued Fairing the Hulls, and Second Daggerboard Trunk

April 15, 2018

I began the day's restoration work with water-washing both hulls' recent fiberglass and fairing work.  The water-wash removed the amine blush (a contaminate to further prep work if not removed), and then got to sanding the filled areas to bring them down to fair with their surrounding hull surfaces.  With both hulls faired by a combination of the RO sander with 80-grit discs and by hand, I then vacuumed the surfaces to remove most of the sanding dust.  I did a final wipe down with acetone to remove the remaining sanding residue.  

After sanding/fairing the hulls, I could see that some of the previously filled and faired work areas required another skim coat of the fairing compound.  The white Dhow was a step further along in the fairing process than that of the blue Dhow, and so I applied a thin coat of West System's 410 microlight for its final application.

I worked around the white Dhow, applying the 410 microlight to previous faired areas to fill pin holes and feather out and blend the worked areas in with that of its surrounding surfaces.

With the  white Dhow completed, I moved over and applied the balance of the 410 microlight to portions of the blue Dhow's hull, filling stress cracks in the aged, thin gelcoat.  I also mixed another batch of epoxy thickened with 406 collodial silica and 407 low-density compounds, applying that to the previously filled and faired work surfaces. 

I would have one additional fairing application on the blue Dhow before calling it good.  Both hulls are close to receiving their first coats of primer paint.

Since I reached a stopping point in working on the hulls, I moved over to the shop to construct the second daggerboard (db) trunk.  I transferred dimension to yet more meranti off cuts and passed them across the table saw to cut to dimension.  I then utilized the miter fence and cut the angles.  I ripped a piece of teak stock to a 1" thickness, and then halved it lengthwise.

With all components of the db trunk prepared, I got to work assembling them.  I aligned the pieces and firmly clamped them together, and then pre-drilled and placed four screws at the corners.  With the db trunk assembled, I marked the individual pieces so that I could quickly reassemble it after disassembling and countersinking for the screw heads. 

After countersinking with a forstner bit, I reassembled the db trunk and cut off the tails of the teak stock. 

Now for the test fit...yet again, another great fitting daggerboard trunk!  Satisfied with the construction, I decided to go ahead and add 4 additional countersunk fasteners to each db trunk.  I first marked and predrilled for each fastener location, and then carefully marked each piece in an areas adjacent and aligned with each of the surrounding pieces.  After marking the pieces I disassembled the db trunks, and bored a hole with the forstner bit for a mahogany bung.

While the db trunks were disassembled, I decided to go ahead and epoxy coat the interior surfaces of the trunks.  For this process, I needed to clean the oils from the meranti boards and remove any unwanted surfaces contaminates.  To that end, I wiped down all surfaces that were to be coated and then set them aside.  I mixed a small batch of neat epoxy (no thickeners), and then painted the epoxy onto the boards.  Upon reassembly, I will go ahead and epoxy coat the exterior prior to painting them.

Total Time Today 4.5 hrs

Fairing the White Dhow / Blue Dhow Hull Repairs / Fabricating a Daggerboard Trunk

April 14, 2018

I began the day by water-washing the amine blush from the now cured fairing compound and fiberglass work done on the white Dhow.  With a scouring pad and water I gave each of the repair areas a good scrubbing to remove the film of wax that results from the cured epoxy resin.

With the vacuum and RO sander set up with 80-grit pads, I got straight to work fairing out the repairs.

I switched to hand-sanding to bring the tight radius edges to fair with the surrounding surfaces.

This was a good first application for the white Dhow, but more to come on the fairing side of things.

With the white Dhow's fill work sanded down to roughly fair, I moved over to the blue Dhow to complete the prep work to begin its first filler application.  There wasn't much in the way of sanding and grinding required, but I did ream out some old fastener holes as well as placing tape on the inboard surface of the hull to provide backing for the thickened epoxy filler to be applied.

I thoroughly wiped both hulls down with a solvent - a surface degreaser for the blue Dhow and acetone for the white Dhow.  Starting with the white Dhow, I mixed a small batch of epoxy and thickened it with 407 low-density and 406 colloidal silica.  Using a squeegee, I skim-coated the previously filled and now sanded repair areas.  The second coat will fill any remaining voids that the first application misses, it will also help bring some of the repair areas to fair with the balance of the hull.

I moved around the white Dhow fairly quickly, applying the required amount of fairing compound.

With a good amount of the fairing compound leftover, I hit a number of the bottom "scars" on the blue Dhow so as to not waste the pricey West System materials.

I then turned my attention to the major hull repair work for the blue Dhow - well "major" is a purely subjective term here, meaning that the repair required laminating a bit of fiberglass to further strengthen the hull.  I set up a work station to the aft of the Dhows, and then got to work creating pattern for the fiberglass cloth required.

As i had done on the white Dhow, I used sheets of 5mil plastic to transfer the area I had ground out on the hull to the pattern.  I started on the port aft quarter and then worked forward, labeling both the patterns and the location on the hull where the fiberglass cloth would be applied.  I also used a orienting mark on the pattern. 

Taking the pattern back to the bench, I then transferred the pattern to the fiberglass cloth with a marker and cut it out.  I repeated this exercise for all of the cloth to be applied on the port side.  With all pattern applied and cut out of the fiberglass, I then mixed a batch of neat epoxy and applied a thin coat to the repair areas.  With all repair areas wet out, I applied the fiberglass and continued to wet the  cloth to ensure there were no bubbles or dry spots.

I worked the port side fairly quickly, paying attention to the heat in the cup since our Florida temperatures are beginning to creep in the direction of inferno!

I repeated this exercise for the starboard side of the hull, completing the application of fiberglass to the repair areas requiring it.

With the fiberglass patches on the port side of the hull now tacking up, I mixed a small batch of thickened epoxy and squeegeed this over the cloth to fill the weave.  I typically fill the weave after allowing applied fiberglass to cure - require a lot more work, frankly.  Filling the weave in the same open working time reduces work immensely: eliminating the water-washing of the amine blush, directly sanding the cloth resulting in a cloud of prickly debris, and generally inefficiencies.  

Both hulls are closer to primer coats!

With bringing the hulls to a point where I could do no additional work, I retreated to the shop for a beer, a cigar, and fabrication of a daggerboard trunk.  The blue Dhow is a sailing version of the 7' 11" Midget, and so therefore has all of the accoutrements of the sailing version.  The white Dhow is not a sailing version, so I am fabricating the components required (the ones that I do not already have): daggerboard (db) trunk, db to seat support, and mast step.  A friend of mine had given me, years ago, all of the sailing gear for the sailing version (less the hull and the components attached to the hull), so that would be the mast, the yard, the boom, the rudder, the daggerboard, as well as the forward seat with the mast hole to allow it to seat onto the mast step.

I decided to fabricate a number of parts to replace existing (damaged or dry-rotted) parts across both Dhows, but for tonight it would be at least one of the daggerboard trunks.  I took the dimensions and angles off of the db trunk from he blue Dhow, and began to cut new material on the table saw.  I have a number of meranti scraps taking up precious space within the shop, and because the meranti (type of mahogany) is a marine grade material, in fact I used this material for the Westsail 32 bulkheads, it would now be perfect for the Dhows.  I will be coating the wood with epoxy and then painting them, so the surfaces will be protected from water and UV.

I removed the primary boards from the meranti scraps, and then used a 5/8" piece of teak to open up the db trunk to allow the daggerboard itself to slide into position.  Clamping the assembly firmly in place, I pre-drilled and then drove screws into the four corners.

I then disassembled the trunk, and using a forstner bit, countersunk to allow the screw head to recess and for eventual bungs (3/8" bungs).

I then reassembled the db trunk, and removed the portions of the teak filler boards that ran long.  

I tested the fit...and then happily hit the shower!

Total Time Today: 7 hrs