July 10, 2018
Arriving home from the office, I molted my office linens and donned some comfortable work clothes...and got straight to work on the Dhows. I thought I might get to painting the white Dhow db (daggerboard) trunk today, but my post sanding audit steered me in a different direction. I really needed to skim coat the tabbing and ease some of the fillet transitions. So I made the decision to postpone the paint at least for this evening. While I had the larger RO sander out, I light scuffed the interior of the white Dhow's hull in preparation for another coat of finish paint.
While I was in sanding mode, I grabbed a small sheet of 220-grit paper and lightly hand-sanded the blue Dhow's db trunk in preparation for a final coat of finish paint.
Stretching out the sanding routine a bit, I also hand-sanded the white Dhow's daaggerboard with 220-grit paper. I vacuumed the interiors of both Dhow's as well as the daggerboard, and wiped them down with a rag dampened with solvent. Finally, I clamped the white Dhow's daggerboard onto a work table, and taped off the top trim (in the picture below, the tape had not yet been applied).
I mixed a small cup of epoxy, and then thickened it with West System's 407 low-density filler. I used a squeegee to apply a skim coat on the port and starboard tabbing, and then worked the fillets fore and aft to ease their transitions onto the hull surface and onto the vertical surfaces of the db trunk. After sanding tomorrow and with the finish paint applied, this prep work will result in a better appearance .
With the epoxy work complete, I poured some finish paint into a small pot and began my various finish paint applications. First, I applied three coats to the white Dhow's daggerboard. I applied the alternating from side to side. This method allowed enough time for the paint to flash off and accept another coat without simply pushing paint around on the surface.
Next, I applied a thin final coat to the blue Dhow's db trunk. The paint on the blue Dhow is complete - barring me dropping a tool onto the hull and marring it up - known to happen!
With the balance of the paint I had left, I managed to get another coat of paint on the white Dhow's hull interior. The work outside was complete for the day, so I headed back to the shop.
Somehow I found the motivation and energy to not go inside and find the couch, and so I managed to address the rudders for both Dhows. The rudders showed their age, acceptable levels of charm one might say, but there were no issues even moderately close to concerning. I simply gave the rudders a good cleaning, sanding, and wipe down with a solvent. This work prepared them for a sealer coat of varnish - Epifanes clear varnish. I need to find a way to mount or suspend the rudders so that I could apply the sealer coat in one go, at least that was I my intent. I did finally arrive at a method. I used a steel rod that had been used to suspend tillers for which I applied varnish coats, but in this application I threaded the rod through the rudder hardware in a horizontal orientation, and then suspended that steel rod from the ceiling rafters.
With the rudders neatly displayed, I continued on to apply the Epifanes clear varnish. This one coat should be fine, and will serve to further protect the wood as well as show it off.
Total Time Today: 3.25 hrs
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