It has been one of the nicest summers we have had in a long time and we are not in the water, go figure. It has also been way too hot to work on deck under the greenhouse! So that has left interior work to be completed which is fine as it will all need to be done sooner or later anyway.
On Monday Paige came to lend a hand and she set to work painting another coat on what she and Fynn had completed the week before. Although I am sure it will continue to get scuffed and dirty as we progress and require another coat, it is sure nice to see what Akupara will eventually look like.
Tuesday to Thursday I was by myself and managed to get a lot accomplished. I was able to sand and stain a lot of the interior wood in the foreword and aft cabin.
So what did I use? Well, part of the overall plan for Akupara is to be as maintenance free as possible and to that end I went with Natural Teak Cetol and Clear Gloss Cetol.
I know, I know. OMG. I didn’t use varnish or hand rubbed finishes or mother of pearl or whatever else, but think back to my last statement. Low maintenance. If I get a scratch, I simply have to do a light sand, put a coat of Cetol and then a coat of gloss and I am done. Every couple of years when it starts to look faded, the same applies. It also means that I only need to keep 2 cans of product on hand at all times. IF we have any wood on the exterior, and that is a big IF, it will also have the same products on it.
And yes Joe, I said gloss 😉 even though you don’t like glossy boats. So far I think it is looking pretty darn amazing considering the state it was in when we purchased Akupara.
I challenge all of you javex bottles to sand your interior wood with 120 grit sandpaper and have any wood left at all. Gotta love 40 year old boats when the teak ply was still made with some meat and not just paper thin.
Speaking of sanding, mu random orbital sander bit the dust so I went out and bought a Dewalt Random Robital Sander that accepts a vacuum cleaner hose. Gotta say I love it so far. The amount of dust that escapes is minor to say the least and the majority of it ends up in the vacuum.
I am coming up to a dilemma though and anyone with any experience doing this I would love to hear from you. I will soon need to repaint all of the fiberglass sole. Right now it is a horrible yellowish colour and it needs to be white. I have asked several folks but have yet to get any good advice. I do not want to sand as that would destroy the nonslip.
Another thing I love about these old boats is that all of the panels can be removed by simply unscrewing them. As I come back to do the electrical and plumbing work, this will make it a lot easier.
So the current plan is to continue refinishing all of the interior until it begins to cool down and then we will get back to working on the deck. As well, this will give us a big sense of satisfaction and help to clean out our basement.
