Flybridge is on!!!

The flybridge is on!!! And I was NOT there to see it!!! Sad sad face....but I am happy happy happy it is on!!!

Shawn worked after work putting a second coat of primer on the flybridge.

He put on two coats of finish paint. The final result looks REALLY good, but we have to admit that there are noticeable imperfections. So it is not "perfect" but it is OUR work and we are happy with it. The flybridge and seats will cover most of the blips. IF we ever do a similar project, we will know better how to do it. I actually think his rolling and tipping on his own looks better than when we worked together on the flybridge? Consistency of paint maybe? or it is easier with one person doing it???

On Wednesday late afternoon (but before I could get there after school), the flybridge went back on!! Thank you, Charlie!!

We are working on putting the rest of her back together this weekend so we can launch her!!! Stay tuned!

Painting and painting and painting

Our weekend was filled with painting...painting...painting...

I met Shawn at the boat after work on Friday and we put a layer of filler onto the fiberglass (Awl Fair). It comes in two containers: one red stuff and one white stuff. We mixed it together 1/2 and 1/2 to make a pink mud which actually spreads really well. The purpose is to fill and smooth just as you would a drywall before painting it. So we mudded the back third on Friday evening. We debated mudding all of it (it would have taken another hour), but decided to wait until Saturday. In hindsight, we should have done it on Friday evening.

Saturday we completed the mudding of the deck and then we had to wait for it to harden. THEN Shawn got the pleasure of sanding it. After sanding it, we realized it needed ANOTHER coat of mudding! (This is why we should have finished it on Friday night!!! but we did not know...we thought one coat would be enough!). So another coat of mudding...then we had to wait for it to dry.

Once the surface was acceptable, the primer coat of paint will go on. This happened on Sunday. I have to vent about the paint. The directions say TWO coats of primer 16 hours apart!!! What??? That means the primer is going to be a 2 day process!! Why would a manufacturer not make it 12 hours apart??? That way you could do two coats in ONE day!!! Grrrrr!!! So....we got the first coat of primer on.

Then it is time to bottom paint! Shawn first sanded off the blips and barnacles and then we began to bottom paint.

Shawn replaced the antennas back on the flybridge while we were waiting on the mud to kick. He created backing plates which he installed as well.

So at the end of the weekend...the fiberglass deck has one coat of primer and the bottom paint is complete. And the flybridge is ready to roll!

Last of the Fiberglass!!!

Finally!!! The last of the fiberglass is done!!! What a HUGE step forward!!! More like a leap. Forward. We have often felt that we go forward then two back then one forward and sometimes just move in a lateral direction.

SO....FINALLY...

Saturday, September 9

We lay the LAST layer of fiberglass (four layers total)! We placed it bowling alley style again (aft to fore). However we did it a bit differently than the second layer. The second layer we began with the hatch side of the deck and this time we began with the other side. I am not sure why we decided to do that. So we dry-fitted the fiberglass (cutting the edges) and then began to adhere it. It took WAY longer than the second layer. About twice as long. I am not sure why. We did the non-hatch side and then the hatch side and it took ALL DAY!!! As in 10-4!!! Maybe we have aged so much in this rebuild process that it takes us twice as long to do anything!

The finished product does look amazing though!

And then I found out we have to MUD the fiberglass and let it dry...sand it and THEN paint it! I swear I am in some sort of time warp where I will infinitely be working on this recoring project!!! HELP!!!! :)

Sunday

For some reason we decided to paint a boot stripe. We had previously decided we would wait a year and THEN determine if we wanted to paint it, but Shawn gets antsy and randomly picks up these "little projects" to do. So I taped and painted a boot stripe. To paint the boot stripe takes 3 parts of tape: the bottom tape which runs along the bottom paint Line (assuming it is straight)...then a middle tape line the width of the desired boot stripe...then the top layer of tape. The middle tape layer is peeled off so that paint is applied there. That's why it takes so long to do. I put the bottom tape layer and the middle tape layer and Shawn put the top layer of tape. (You can see Shawn's brilliant idea of only doing small sections of the middle layer of tape).

And we painted a second coat on the bridge. AND put the railings and "stuff" back on the bridge

So at the end of the weekend...we simply have to mud and paint the flybridge deck and then put the flybridge back on and we can launch the Yellowbird!!!

And let me tell you...once we get the YellowBird back at our dock...we will be doing NOTHING but all the fun things we put aside to complete this project!

Summer is ending

Labor Day Weekend

So very disheartened. I cannot even describe it with words. While there are spurts of excitement at a task completed and small progress...I am just very frustrated and yes heartbroken to a degree that the summer has passed and we were not able to launch the YB. We worked so hard and so long, through the intense heat...days, evenings, weekends, giving up all our social and fun time and we still have not reached our goal. There are moments when I wish we had not even embarked on this project.

So Friday, we glasses the deck with the THIRD layer of fiberglass, running side to side as we did the first layer. We originally thought we would need three layers of fiberglass, but it is going to need FOUR. Ugh...just ugh. (I seem to think that often!).

And we do not seem to have any pictures of it!

Uncooperative weather on labor day weekend so we focused on some more inside tasks that needed to be done BEFORE we can launch. The depth transducer was replaced with a sea cock and thru-hull for the air conditioning. The speed transducer was replaced with a tilted element depth transducer for the Garmin. (That all sounds like Greek to me). I was there and I helped and I understood what we were doing as we were doing it, but...

We removed the aged window tinting film from the salon windows as it was peeling and honestly, I did not like it. A substantial amount of adhesive residue was left behind and we tried EVERYTHING to remove it. Windex, Adhesive remover, razor blade scraping and nothing worked. In an act of desperation and frustration, I took some spray Spic'nSpan that I found in the head and sprayed the residue. To our surprise, it actually dissolved the residue and I was able to scrape it easily off with the razor knife. It has to be damp though. If I wiped the spray then tried the razor blade, that did not work. So we got the windows clean.

The clean windows inspired us to clean the salon (with Fabuloso) and replace the overhead teak strips. So now, if we can just finish the rest of the work and launch her, the salon is ready for us!

The skies cleared on Monday for a bit, so we leveled the low areas of the deck with some spot fiberglassing. Our plan is to put the final layer on fore to aft (bowling alley style).

So at the end of the summer--yes I know it "officially" ends on September 2...but weather and activity-wise, summer for me has always been Memorial Day to Labor Day---I find myself with mixed emotions. I look back at the progress and I am happy and proud. What an accomplishment! I have gained some great experience and skills. Yet the overwhelming emotion is sadness. I feel I wasted my summer...hours, days, evenings, spent working on a project that is still incomplete. And when people say "that's a boat for you"; it honestly makes me want to burst into tears. I absolutely do not mind working and working HARD, but by golly, I want to relax and enjoy life also. No romantic evening boat rides to the beach where we walk along hand in hand, sit under the setting sun and then the stars. No lazy afternoons spent on the water, water-skiing and boat-riding. No visits to family or friends. Just pure work. Time that cannot be regained. And as I look at what STILL needs to be done BEFORE we can use the boat, I am simply exhausted.

Shawn is such a support and so positive. He reminds me that we are getting the YellowBird "up to speed" and the regular maintenance and repairs will not be as arduous as this project has been! YAY!