Dog Days of Summer

The dog days of summer are here! With temperatures in the 90s and 100s, I cannot believe we actually work 5-8 hours a day on theYellowBird. While we have a strong work ethic, I would be less than honest if I said our patience and tempers are long. As we work and get overheated, dripping with sweat soaked clothes, we become more impatient with the task and each other. Luckily, we "mostly" mesh rather than clash so we take hydration breaks periodically and sometimes just flat out walk away from the task (and each other 😀).

July 14, 2017

Friday evening on an oppressively hot day. We have quite a to-do list for the weekend, so we headed over to the boatyard to make preparations for tomorrow. We stopped at Walmart on the way to pick up paint for the cockpit door. We had decided to repaint the doors an off-white, but changed our minds in the store and decided to go with true white. It seems cleaner and more nautical.

We borrowed a canopy shelter from Shawn’s brother Ian and set it up next to the YellowBird over the pile of supplies, ready for tomorrow.  Under it, we plan to construct a protective covering for the flybridge floor to protect the new floor from the direct sun.

We brought down the cockpit doors ready to paint tomorrow. We plan to get an early start so as to beat the heat. It was 106 in the saloon at 5:15pm! With no doors and the windows open. Hoping for cooler temperatures tomorrow.

No sooner had we gotten home than a thunderstorm blew up. We are hoping all of our preparations are still there in the morning. L

Saturday

We returned to the YB and found that the shade canopy had NOT blown over! It was a cool morning with a nice breeze. We took off the cover and found the storm had completely soaked the bridge. So we laid all the dry fitted coring out in the sun so the water would evaporate from the flooring.

We then headed to Lowe’s to get materials (1) cinderblocks to weigh the coring so that it would achieve the correct arc and (2) to build a shelter to cover the YB for when we fiberglass OVER the coring we put down. We bought 20 cinderblocks; 4 2*4*12 and 4 2*4*10 and a large tarp. We returned to Jennings and unloaded our newly acquired materials. It looks like we are building a shanty-town!

We then tackled the doors. We took apart the doors (which we had previously removed from the frame) and painted each section. We had quite a discussion (Shawn prevailed) on the “correct” way to spray paint a door frame. We (mostly me) painted the doors a pretty bright white.

While I painted the doors, Shawn was prepping the doorframe support (remember the rotten wood and supports he replaced?) for fiberglassing tomorrow.

Sunday

A long hot workday.  Today is the day we began the recoring process in earnest. I am amazed at how many steps there have been to this process. I thought we had begun “recoring” a couple of weeks ago.

I think I missed explaining a crucial step in this process. Last week, we took the PLYWOOD core sections we cut and on the plain side (without cuts) we sealed them with epoxy so that they we adhere better to the goop mixture we made today that is spread on the flybridge flooring.  As I have mentioned, I am not a “native nautical” so I may not use the correct terminology (although Shawn does correct me) but MY understanding (in layman’s terms) is that there are actually 3 layers to our flybridge decking. The bottom layer which we have now (the floor), the core layer (which we are replacing) and the fiberglass layer (which we will create OVER the core layer once we have it completed).

So the BIG task we completed today was adhering the new core to the flooring. We made a “goop” mixture of resin (it is a green globby mess) and a catalyst (methyl ethyl ketone? MEK). A quart of the green stuff needs 10 cc of catalyst  to “kick” or harden. So we mixed 1 or 2 quarts at a time depending on the size of the core to be fitted. We decided to start at the hatch (Section 7) even though it is the middle of the flybridge because those pieces are the most difficult to fit. (Remember we have dry fitted these pieces multiple times).

Dry fitted core

In order to weigh the coring and ensure that it adapts to the curvature, we placed the cinderblocks on top of the plywood coring. And...oh yeah...we had to GET the cinderblocks UP to the flybridge. We used a rope pulley...Shawn on the flybridge and me on the ground. I am going to start a plank challenge this week so that in the future I can lift those darn cinderblocks! My husband is STRONG!

So while we waited for the glop to harden, we turned our attention to the doorframe that Shawn prepped yesterday. Today I got my first experience with fiberglassing. So Shawn put more of the glop down the length of the doorframe and I placed what looked like heavy gauze bandages down the length on top of the glob. Turns out those "bandages" are actually fiberglass. Who knew? And more glop on top of the bandages. So now we wait for this to harden.

And of course there are NO BREAKS!!! Too much to be done! I am just kidding. We actually do take breaks and drink water, gatorade, sometimes sweet tea and we have snacks like pretzels and trail mix and granola bars. And we usually split a sandwich for lunch while we sit in the shade and talk about "what's next" to be done.

We painted the vents white and replaced them. It actually did make a noticeable difference in her look. (I painted and Shawn replaced).

We covered our YellowBird and went home hot, dripping with sweat, exhausted AND so very pumped because we are actually PUTTING HER BACK TOGETHER NOW!!!

the end is in sight???

July 8, 2017

Shawn’s birthday! We had a couple of hours to spend before we had a social obligation, so we headed to the boatyard to prepare for the “big” work tomorrow.  We removed some remaining coring debris from UNDER the flybridge perimeter. I swear I think the dust and debris reproduces itself while we are gone. We continually find more to remove after it is “clean”. AND sometimes I think we spend as much time to uncovering and recovering her as we do actually working on her on these short bursts of work. But each little bit of time we spend on her adds up and the end goal is in sight. We swept and vacuumed (and spent 30 minutes uncovering and recovering her!).

July 9, 2017

A huge workday! Shawn inspired me by taking me for an early morning boat ride on the skiff while we drank coffee and admired the wildlife and sunrise from our Carolina Skiff. 

We headed to the YB about 9, armed with a case of water and a few gatorades. After uncovering her AND cleaning more debris(#%^*!) we began to measure in order to cut the plywood and the coring for the flybridge. I am actually quite impressed with our work! It looks very professional. All due to Shawn. First we had to determine where we needed plywood and where we needed nidacore for the coring (I advocated for plywood over the whole flybridge because I figured it would be easier and stronger).  Apparently the way it works is: if something has to be “through-bolted” (whatever the heck that is!) or fastened somehow then we need plywood there. Otherwise we use nidacore---it is lighter, strong and less expensive. So…everywhere we have to “anchor” the helm, the helm chair, the seats, the mast and the railings needs plywood. Everything else nidacore. The first thing we did was fitted around the forward perimeter of the flybridge with nidacore because no fasteners are used there. We measured and calculated, cut and fit. And it worked! YAY!!! The flybridge deck is 88” wide and the first section we needed is 30” depth. Plywood. Once we cut it, we had to “score” the plywood so that it will flex and bend. So I made 3” lines on the plywood across the sheet and Shawn set the blade to ½” (it is ¾” plywood) and we scored the plywood section. It worked amazingly perfectly. These scores will be filled with epoxy once the laminating process begins. As we worked our way towards the rear of the flybridge, we alternated plywood and nidacore as needed. Hot, sweaty work. Several times we were ready to call it a day, but we pressed on until we got to a the very rear portion which requires us to measure and cut and fit under the rear perimeter. Too much thinking for the end of a day in the heat!!!

  

 So for the entire day, section by section, working from the front of the flybridge to the back, we would measure, then descend to cut the wood and score it. I would ascend, Shawn would hand me the plywood and I would hold it while he ascended and then we would place it on the flybridge floor. I guess you could do it with one person, but two makes it more manageable.

One logistical item I have failed to mention. Each day when we arrive at the boat yard, we have to connect to the power and to the water. At the end of the workday, we disconnect the water and power and wind up the electrical cord and hose.  And "our" boatyard looks like a ghost town now! We are one of the few remaining who are not YET launched into the glorious water!

Summer is half-over

July 2

Tired and frustrated. I love seeing the progress on the YellowBird, AND at the same time, I am so tired just bone-tired of working on her. I want to go to the beach and feel the sand on my feet and the sun on my face. I want to walk and listen to the waves. 

And she is not ready. I feel as if she will never be ready and that I will never have the chance to enjoy the fruits of all this labor. Logically I know that it is better to fix everything that needs to be fixed now while she is in the boatyard. And I do not mind the labor, but sometimes it seems never-ending... this labor of love on the YellowBird. I am a sand and sea girl. I am looking forward to the day (next year????) when I can sit in the cockpit while anchored offshore and sip an adult beverage. I want to enjoy sunsets and dancing on the flybridge. I feel as if I am never going to get there.

So this weekend, we (meaning Shawn) replaced the rotten supports underneath the door frame. We knew it had to be done before we recore the flybridge so this was the weekend. 

We braced and supported the sandwiched crossbeams that Shawn replaced previously. And by we I mean Shawn. I was the “gopher” for him.

He added additional supports from the stringers to the 2*4s that we sandwiched under the door support. Hot…boring…poor Shawn since he was underneath the cockpit in the storage spot all morning. We put a fan under there, but it was hot and muggy work for him.

So now the cockpit is ready for the door to be returned. Oh dang! That means I have to finish painting the door frame. It needs another pass with the spray paint. Hmmm...maybe we will just go for an "open" look and not replace the door. :)

I thought the flybridge was ready for recoring….NOT! Apparently we have to sand it smooth. Well, duh. It is logical, but it was so disheartening to realize that I wasn’t finished with the flybridge preparation. I thought I had it completed! Nope…it is neverending. My amazing Shawn actually did all the sanding (hmmmm….I  think he really does not trust me with powertools!) and I swept up all the ensuing debris. Yuck. I felt like I had dust in my lungs for hours afterwards!

Our pile of debris grows larger and larger. It is absolutely mind-boggling how much "stuff" we remove. Wood, epoxy chunks, unidentifiable material chunks. If the YellowBird were a person, she would be the equivalent of the "bionic woman" by the time we finish her! (Who else remembers watching the "Six Million Dollar Man" and the "Bionic Woman"?). And I wonder if I can put this experience on my resume and acquire work in a boatyard.

AND our materials for the recoring arrived! I have no idea of what is in the huge buckets...some sort of "goop" that we will use to "mud" the flooring. But it is so exciting to see the new clean materials and KNOW that we are going to have a sturdy flybridge floor...so I will get my dancing UNDER the stars!