I ordered the supplies to paint the deck:
As you can see, I have chosen to use the one-part Interlux product: Brightside and its associated primers and surface prep. We are going to use Interlux Interdeck for the non-skid parts. This is a one-part polyurethane with texture already mixed in. The texture paint is beige and the other is the plain white (who knew that there were 1500 different shades of white?).
Hopefully the deck will be ready soon for the paint. They have been completely stripped of hardware (a much bigger job than I anticipated) and all the mounting holes have been 'potted' with epoxy. This is the process described by Don Casey in his book "Sailboat Hull and Deck Repair", which has become my personal bible. Essentially you remove the hardware, dig the core material out about 1/2" to 1" around the hole, fill with unthickened epoxy (to "wet it out"), drain the unthickened epoxy, inject thickened epoxy (I used West System 406 colloidal silica filler), then sand flush with the deck. Some fairing is generally required after this, I have been using the West System 410 low density fairing filler for this.
I have also sanded the entire deck with 60/80/120 grit sandpaper on my random orbital sander (thanks Courtney!) which is pretty much my favorite tool. This was a ton of very nasty work. The no-skid portions of the deck had to be completely sanded off so the paint would apply correctly. I know that some people choose not to do this, but I wanted a very finished look. Unfortunately, there is more sanding in my future because getting a mirror finish will require sanding the two coats of primer with 220 to remove any sags/drips/brushmarks. I keep reminding myself that this will all be worth it.
So, before I can paint I need to finish fairing the decks. This is mostly touch up work with the exception of one major portion on the starboard side just aft of the sidestay chainplates:
Surprise! When I was potting the mounting holes for the starboard jib sheet track I realized that a large portion of the deck was rotten. Luckily, I had a lot of leftover 3/8" scored and scrimmed balsa core material from the cabin sole replacement (pictures and narrative coming soon) so I started emergency open deck surgery. First I drilled exploratory holes radiating outwards from where I first found the rot to determine the extent of the damage. I then used my circular saw (thanks Dad!) to cut the top portion of fiberglass off. It did not come off nicely like the cabin sole, so I knew that I would now learn to fiberglass. I scraped out all of the rotten core material, sanded the repair area and sealed the edges of the good core with thickened epoxy. I cut/sanded/cut/sanded all of the balsa pieces to fit snugly in the repair area and then troweled some thickened epoxy in the repair area. The pieces fit like a glove, it is so easy to work with this balsa core material. After this had kicked I covered the entire surface of the balsa with more thickened epoxy and faired the surface. Then it was time to fiberglass. I layed down three layers (cut in increasingly larger sizes), waited for the epoxy to gel, then I layed down three more. I was using 6oz fiberglass cloth which when wetted out with epoxy becomes very, very thin. The next day I layed sanded down the repair edges to a nice bevel and layed down three more layers of fiberglass cloth. I believe that three more layers, for a total of 12, should bring the surface close to fair with the surrounding deck. It will then be faired with thickened epoxy and sanded in preparation for painting.
I have also been refinishing the exterior teak. The wood was severely weathered and the varnish, what was left of it, was flaking off. It was in horrible condition. After a ton of sanding I got the grab rails, hatch sliders, companionway sliders and toerail down to naked teak. Unfortunately, this removed a lot of wood, but not enough to significantly weaken the parts. I went to Home Depot and bought some Watco teak oil and applied three heavy coats to everything. It has been drying/soaking in for about three days now and is nearly ready for a few more coats. It looks fantastic! I think it will take around eight coats of oil in the end. What a difference:
The above picture compares a grabrail with one coat of teak oil to a bare hatch slider. The Watco gives a somewhat darker appearance then I had hoped for. I am not sure if the oil is completely to blame as 30+ years of UV exposure would certainly account for some of the darkening of the wood. At this point I am conflicted about whether I should varnish after many more coats of oil or just plan on wiping on some more teak oil on a regular basis. Most likely I will opt for the latter as I am growing tired of spending major $ and time on this project and would really like to go sailing.
I have also begun to remove the entire rubrail from the boats envelope. I have contemplated replacing the entire rail and insert (it is very weathered and brittle) but that will cost an additional $150 to $200. I think that I will just clean it up as best I can and remount it with some fresh caulk (3M fast cure 4200). Using 4200 (as opposed to 5200) will allow me to remove the rail in the future if I decide to replace it. I also intend on remounting all of the hardware with the 4200 compound (with the exception of the portlights which should be reinstalled with silicon).
I have ordered new sidestay chainplates, from D&R marine, because the existing plates were of the homegrown variety (3/8" SS eyebolts through aluminum plate backers) and I don't trust them. There are many horror stories in the OdayOwners forums about losing the stick due to failed sidestay chainplates. I also ordered a new SS mast tabernacle because the original aluminum casting is very cheap/flimsy/crap. Since I am replacing the mast step I am going to go ahead and install a halyard organizer plate underneath with the intentions of running the halyards aft to the cockpit. This will require new halyards, which the boat needs anyway (I think the existing ones are the originals and I really wouldn't like to douse my sails unintentionally!). The plate was also ordered from Rudy at D&R marine. The new mast step will be great and hopefully I can mount electrical connections directly on it as opposed to on the deck where they are easily tripped over. I am not having much luck finding a four lead deck connector though(I would like to combine the steaming and masthead lights wires into one connection).
It looks like at least another few weeks of work to get her in the water. Left to do:
*finish the starboard deck repair: more fiberglass, fairing, sanding
*complete fairing the deck
*one last sanding with 120 on the entire deck
*epoxy the top 'skin' of the cabin sole back on, fiberglass the seams, fair and sand
*remount rubrail
*paint the decks and cabin sole: prime, prime, sand, wash, paint, paint, tape off no-skid, paint, paint
*remount all deck hardware with 3M 4200 sealant: craft new SS backing plates for most hardware, drill new mounting holes, rebed the hardware, finger tighten, allow to cure, fully tighten
*install new mast step with organizer plate and electrical connections
*remount the portlights with silicon sealant
*learn how to crimp coaxial cable for the VHF antenna
*replace halyards with new all-rope halyards long enough to be led aft
*clean the hull interior and carpet the cabin walls. (this might have to wait)
*reinstall the bulkheads and cabinets in the cabin
*drop her in the water and hoist the sails!
