Whole Lotta Sanding

A bloody hard day's work, but we are almost ready to start varnishing the capping rail. Have a couple of hours work to finish in the morning, then will be ready to get going. Of course, this is only about 1/3 of the total capping we need to strip and varnish. So looking forward to doing the other side and stern....

The Joys of Maintenance

Making good progress on the bulwark, expect after this weekend that we will be ready to sand and varnish the capping rail. Fingers crossed for another fine weekend next week.

During the work on the bulwark I found a small area of rotten wood, up towards the forward end. I dug it all out and it appears that water has been getting in under the capping rail, through a gap between the cap and the bulwark. This had previously been filled with mastik but it had failed. I have cut everything out to clean wood, dug out all the old mastik, and am now doing the repairs.

Dutchman repair before fairing - no epoxy filler here, thank you very much. Note the open seam to the right where the plank tails into the next - I have dug out loose glue and will re-fill.

I had thought about removing the winch base pad and other bronze fittings, but access to the bolts below decks is a nightmare, so have decided to strip in place. It's a shame that the bronze won't stay this colour...

It will be good to get this job done and get everything back together again so we can go sailing again (Kamalii groupies, ready yourselves, invites coming soon). But that main mast keeps glaring at me, saying "Varnish me now!". Deep breath...

Great Sailing Weather

It's Labour Weekend, the semi-official start of the sailing season in these parts, and beautiful weather. Great for sailing, which is why we are spending it sanding...

Planning to finish off the work we started on the starboard bulwark months ago, and get the capping rail prepped for varnishing. Fun fun fun.

Sigh...

Overall, Kamalii is an extraordinarily well designed and built boat. But on every boat you get those odd things where you wonder "What were they thinking?".

I had to remove the burgee line tie-off (I'm sure it has a proper name, no idea what it might be) as we continue to strip the starboard bulwark (yes - we actually had a more or less fine day!) and then I noticed something. They clearly fitted it before they rigged the boat.

I had to disconnect the starboard shroud and then remove the turnbuckle so I could get a screwdriver in, having to actually poke it through the chainplate attachment point. With it in place there was simply no way, even with a right-angle screwdriver.

A lot of work to undo two screws.

In other news, I have started fitting the trim battens and edging that Simon and I made up, it's all looking great. Of course, theres a lot of varnishing to come...

May as well be shredding $20 notes...

I've been working away slowly on finishing off the aft cabin. The headliners are all done (except for one I wasn't happy with), now I need to sort out the teak trim, fix up the wall panel alongside the port berth where it was cut to let them run the genset exhaust through, and then paint.

I have 90% of the teak trim for the room, but a few bits are missing, a couple are knackered, and a couple no longer fit due to changes made when the starboard berth was converted to a double. All the overhead battens in the starboard state room are also missing, and there are various bits and pieces around the rest of the boat that I need to make. Woodwork time.

I purchased some slabs of Burmese teak (at NZ$8,280 per cubic metre!), and then with the generous help of Simon and David Jenkin have reproduced a pile of battens and trim pieces that match the originals.

David Jenkin is a piano maker and has the coolest workshop - I was like a kid lost in a toy-store. He generously let me use his workshop, and Kamalii veteran Simon kindly gave up his Friday evening to assist me in generating large amounts of very expensive sawdust.

1.4m x 50mm x 200mm slabs of teak. I stored them in my office so I could enjoy the smell...

Ripping up the slabs.

The huge canoe is Simon's - he's laminating new bulwarks.

Stacks of new battens and moldings, all routered to match the originals.

 

About $50 worth of sawdust, by my estimation.

Over the coming weeks I'll start cutting and fitting the trim, then take it all down again to varnish. Thanks again for your help, Simon!