This week we got two major projects completed.  We put three coats of spar varnish on the doors to the cabin, and then mounted them.  They turned well and look nice with the contrasting wood types.  Then came the big project, causing much stress and planing beforehand.  We painted the deck, sides, and top with  two-part Interlux Perfection polyurethane paint.  The color is oyster white.  You just never know how certain paints are going to work, especially two part paints.  Will they be easy to apply, or difficult?  Richard watched videos supplied by the company, on how the paint should be applied, and we used foam roller covers and a badger-hair paint brush.  The technique we used was to roll the paint on, then follow with a dry paint brush, pulled over the rolled surface.  I must say that it turned out beautiful!  We put on two coats, wet-sanding with 400 grit sandpaper between the coats.  We were very pleased with this product.
We also received the steering system for the boat, and now we will have to figure out how  to install it-another puzzle to solve.
The paint doesn't totally cure for several days, so we have a break to do some other stuff-maybe yard work, or maybe even playing.  Our son Mathew is coming to visit on Friday to be here for 4th of July fireworks, so that is a good excuse to do some playing.

Back again with a few more pictures.  We completed some small items this week , namely the decorative side panels on the pilot house which cover the plywood meeting joints.  We also attached the navigation light holders to the top of the pilot house, and finished the main hatch cover attachment. 
Now we are getting ready to put the first coat of two-part primer on the roof of the pilot house, the deck, and the roof of the cabin.  That will be today's project and we will apply the paint with brush and roller.  We will see how it goes on.
Then comes more sanding, another coat of primer, and more sanding.
We took some time off boat building last week and did some boat using with our family from Vermont.  The boat is the cedar plank boat Richard built two years ago.  Everyone says it rows like a dream!
It was nice to take a break from the boat and sanding, but it is hard to get back to it now.  The weather is so nice, we would rather be outside. 

This week there are no photos to share with you.  The week was composed  mostly of sanding, sanding, and more sanding.  We also had family visitors from Vermont, so we took a break from the boat project for a few days.  We are finishing up some small projects and making a few more.  The new front hatch cover (the first one warped badly while it was being built) is essentially finished and looks good.  Now it needs to be attached.  The side window slides on the pilot house are on, and other little pieces are being completed.  It is important to do these kinds of projects to break the monotony of the sanding.  The good news is that the paint has arrived-the primer; two part off- white deck paint, and the two part varnish.  We only ordered.  part of the paint, so we can see if it is okay to work with.  Some two part paint is difficult to use.
Next posting I will include some more pictures of our progress.  In the meantime, it is more sanding and more sanding!  Anyone want to come help???

This week was a hard one.  We had a fiberglass screw up early in the week.  We also lost our dear friend and fellow boat lover-builder, Campbell Massey.  We had hoped he would make it long enough to take a ride in our new boat, but the cancer won.  We will miss him!

Our fiberglass mess was something everyone should pay attention to.  When you use two different products that have different mixing ratios, pay attention!  One product is a 3/1 mixing ration, and the other is 1/1.  Using the 3/1 instead of 1/1 will cause the fiberglass to not cure, leaving a sticky mess.  So, what we had to do was scrape it off, lift the cloth off, scrape some more, then wash with lacquer thinner and then wash again with a green scrub pad and water.  After it dried, we recoated it all with the correct product ratio.  What a lesson!  It was successful, though and only took two days.
We cut the holes for the side opening hatches.  We found used ones on our last trip to the coast and they are going to really be nice.  We are waiting for special hinges for the large front hatch.  We can't fit it until we know how the hinges fit.
Richard is now working on the two seats in the pilot house and the two cupboards in the cabin.  In between designing and building, he gets some sanding done, as it is a never ending task.  All in all, though, the boat is coming along nicely.  We got the two part epoxy enamel paint this week.  We want to see how it goes on before we buy all we need, because it is pretty expensive and may be hard to work with.  This paint will go on the front deck, and the pilot house roof, and maybe other places if we find it fairly easy to use.  This is an off white color.

This week we had several projects, the first being the side foot rails.  As usual, nothing goes as planned.  After steaming the board for the rail, it broke while we were screwing it down.  So, using an alternate method, the next rail pieces were laminated.  We broke one of these pieces, also.  Anyway, we finally got one side done and will get the other side soon.  Richard moved to the next project, which is the front hatch.  It is amazing how long it takes to build a hatch!  By the time it is done, it will include 23 pieces of wood.  All these pieces have to fit together like a puzzle.  Some of these pieces are only 2 or 3 inches long.  Needless to say, it is very time consuming.
In the next day or two we will be putting 10 oz fiberglass cloth on the roof of the pilot house.  This is way up there, so it will be critical to take care not to fall off while putting the resin on.  No falling off is allowed!
There is a tremendous amount of detail sanding right now-15 to 20 minutes at a minimum every day for a month or two.  Maybe a smaller boat would have been easier, but oh well!

This week our progress on the boat is not real visible, but it is there none the less.  We accomplished some very important but not showy stuff.  We laminated two thin pieces of wood for the rub rail.  We did this in two pieces so we could use the plastic staples to hold it in place, as the staples wouldn't hold thicker pieces.  It worked well and once again we realized how handy those plastic staples are.
The windshield frames were a big job with a lot of fitting to get them right.  The curved strips for the pilot house roof were also tricky to get right, but they are ready for the plywood roof now.
We also framed the space for the doors into the cabin.
Tomorrow we will do more fiberglassing-this time on the cabin top and the forward deck.  We need to do the fiberglass first thing in the morning so we can get a second coat on in the afternoon. 
We also need to attach the second v berth bed, which we may complete today.  We also had a lot of cleanup in the interior of the boat, as it was full of sanding dust.  It seems that everything is full of sanding dust, but I guess that is to be expected.  Before we do any painting we will have to roll the boat outside, and thoroughly clean all parts of the shop.

Look what is happening to our boat!  It seems to be growing upward.  This week we made great progress, putting the ribs on the cabin top, then adding the plywood over them.  As the pictures show, the cabin now is enclosed (and dark) and will be fitted with windows and a front hatch.  It was quite a job getting the top pieces fitted precisely so all would go together as planned.  Richard took his time and measured and then measured some more, before installation.  The sand buckets came into use again and worked well, until one of them fell off the top and spilled sand all over!  What a mess that was.  Anyway, after all the fitting, the plywood was glued and then stapled to the ribs and sides, and all went together perfectly. 
We next cut out the foam rubber for the v-berth, so that the second side of the bed can now be attached.  We found a great tool for cutting the foam.  The band saw made perfectly smooth cuts quickly and easily-much better than a knife, as a knife makes a ragged cut that is hard to keep straight up and down. 

Next job was to create the ribs for the pilot house top, and get the sides ready to attach to the ribs. The ribs will be two pieces of wood-mahogany and ash, laminated together.  The contrast of the light and dark woods is very attractive.  It is truly amazing how different the boat looks with the sides of the pilot house up and ready to be attached.  The true lines of the boat are becoming visible now, which is exciting.