Overdue post... (hatches)

Hello again.  I know, its been a while, but I have been focusing on working on the boat rather than blogging about not working that much on the boat! I have a lot to cover, so I will be doing several smaller posts because I am currently feeling overwhelmed by the amount I have to blog about.  Imagine that! 

priming the bilge with cut off paint brush

What have I been up to?  So glad you asked!  I have been doing a lot of painting.  A LOT of painting!  I found some great urethane acrylic primer that I have been using on the hatches.  It is basically urethane glue (think Gorilla glue)  that has some white pigment in it.  That means it sticks to everything!  I have been priming my fiberglass hatches, the inside of the fiberglass and gel coat dingy, the scraped down and previously painted cabin interior with no indication of the primer not working.  I have even painted the bilge with it, which is a notoriously hard place to get to, get clean, and get dry to paint.  I happen to be getting ahead of myself though.  I have been doing some reading to get a good idea of what I should be using for paint.  I think I might have mentioned this in a earlier post, but I kept coming up with the same answer: Alkyd paint.  It is basically oil based paint.  I happened to go with the Benjamin Moore Super Spec paint because it is designed to be used on heavy machinery and heavily abused equipment.  I thought this made a lot of sense for me to use since the marine environment is a harsh one. One of the reasons for going with oil based paint is because it repels water.  That is very very good when talking about things like hatches that are out in the weather 24/7.  It is also good for things like bilges because is repels the water away from the bare fiberglass and helps to prevent blistering and separation of the fiberglass layers.

Main Hatch

I've spent quite a bit of time painting over the last several weeks.  I would like to say that I am done, but this is only the beginning.  Not only do I have most of the interior of the boat to prime and paint, I also have the bottom to sand and paint.  I see no end in sight for painting.  Fortunately Jenny has stepped up and has been helping me out with scraping, cleaning, painting, and keeping me on track.  

The main hatch, which I thought was done, turned out to need more trimming.  Unfortunately I found that out after I painted it completely with both primer and topcoat.  It looked really great when I was done, but now needs some attention from being on its roof to cut, trim, and chisel away the bits that needed to be removed to make it fit.  It does now fit, and quite snugly when in the closed position (pictured left).  I was going to make it slide a little easier, but I would rather have a tight fit with it in the closed position.  This means that when I close the hatch in high wind or heavy seas, it will stay shut with out the need of a lock.  To me, this is a HUGE step forward because I have all 4 hatches that I am building at this time on the boat and mostly finished.  It means that I am very much closer to getting the boat ready for splash day.  

So much for the hatch being finished!  Saw dust and wood chips everywhere!

Forward Hatch

I believe the last time I posted, the forward hatch was done in terms of wood working, but had yet to be glassed, painted, hinged, etc.  Fortunately I have had time and appropriate weather to get the glassing done.  It was the last hatch that needed to be built, and honestly, I got a little lazy.  The glass-work leaves something to be desired, but I am in "Get the boat in the water" mode.  I was quite happy that a friend of mine (Yes, Davey, this means you!) who does glass work and auto body work professionally said that my glass work is pretty good.

Before the hatch was glassed, I had to trim the hatch to accept the piano-style hinge so that it will open while being attached to the deck.  It took a boat load of screws to attach the hinge, but I don't think it is going to go anywhere.

Unfortunately I do not have any pics of this hatch painted, but I think you get the idea.





This is only the hatch work that I have gotten accomplished in the last few weeks.  In the next post I hope to discuss sea-cocks, thru-hulls, re-engineering the deck and cockpit drainage, and other miscellaneous stuff I have gotten accomplished.

I have to extend a HUGE thank you to Jenny for coming out and scraping paint, priming the interior of the cabin, and generally keeping my mind in the game when I get overwhelmed with the number and scope of the projects to be accomplished.  Jenny, you're the best!