A Tedious Job!

As you may well remember, Schyler had me start a project involving screwheads while we waited for more stripper to arrive. He told me, and I quote, "It's a very tedious job. I appreciate that you THINK you can do it, but it's very, very tedious." Knowing this information, I set forth with my screwdriver in hand and prepared for hours of painstaking work. I was done in one hour, not so bad!

After the fairing job, I began scraping paint off around all the little nooks and crannies near the deck framing. I figured I would at least keep working on removing the paint while we waited for more paint stripper to arrive. Now, this job to me was painfully tedious and beyond frustrating. I'm thinking, you've got to be kidding, there must be an easier way to get around all this framing! In the midst of my cursing, Schyler comes home and inspects my fairing work, and then grabs a screwdriver and begins removing all the deck framing, seat cleats and seat supports. I sat there amazed. He couldn't have done this in the beginning, BEFORE I started all the scraping!!! Once they were all off, he turns to me with that Schyler smile and says "Look honey, this will make it much easier to work on!" I thought I was going to slug him.

All and all, the boat is progressing very well and we have been working on it everyday after work and on weekends. Friends are beginning to stop by and check it out. Pete and RePete visited with beer and munchies. Chris Moore stopped by to see how far we were along with ours. He and his father Jim are working on their Lightning for the Regatta as well. The race is on!

Anyway, we will keep you posted and remember, if you drive by and see us working on the boat, STOP by! We love it! Just remember, if you are holding a Blue in one hand, prepare to have a tool in the other helping us!

Day Four - Paint Stripping

Finally another warm day to start stripping the blue and green paint off the boat. We started with a water based product that ended up leaving a very thick and gooey layer on the bare wood. Impossible to simply scrub away with a scrubbie and warm water which was the intent. What a mess to clean up, so we stopped before going any further. Schyler ordered new stripper and once we get that we'll start the process over. Otherwise it was a learning experience for me since I have never done this before. Just love those mindless tasks...especially when there is a glass of wine waiting for me to enjoy in the sun.

Tonight, Schyler has (wait, I have to call him to find out the correct terminology, whole new language for me here), another project, which is digging out the screw head fairings. I have no idea what I just wrote or what it means. Poor guy, I know he shakes his head while thinking "Oh my God" as I ask these questions, but I am a very willing and eager intern and he knows I will eventually learn all this stuff.

Day Three - Rudder

Today, Schyler worked on the rudder sanding it all the way down to bare wood. There are some dings that will have to be filled in with epoxy and mahogany dust that Schyler has saved over the years. So, there is a method to his madness of things he collects and saves. After all his hard work, Libby, his team mate for the Regatta, came out to supervise the progress. Needless to say she was pleased. I simply take the photos and do the grunt work I am told to do.

Also, please check out the new Cool Links added!

Day Two!

The warm weather has arrived...at least for awhile. Being the case, we wheeled the Lightning out and finished scrapping all the old loose paint off. Keefe joined in until I thought better...isn't that paint full of lead? Probably. He was excused from his duties...gleefully! Anyway, we plan on applying the paint stripper this week and and starting the scrapping process again.