I jest only a smidge when I say that my favorite skipper leaves the house whistling like the less known eighth minion of Snow White. Heigh ho, heigh ho.
It's been a full few days at Boat Build Central. The process of painting a boat seems as slow as any human endeavor, ever. A metronome count of days:
Spray on one coat of polyurethane. Tick.
Pause overnight (or more) for drying. Tock.
Sand. Tick.
Apply another coat. Tock
Pause for drying. Tick.
Sand. Tock.
Et cetera.
Et cetera.
Et cetera.
It's been a full few days at Boat Build Central. The process of painting a boat seems as slow as any human endeavor, ever. A metronome count of days:
Spray on one coat of polyurethane. Tick.
Pause overnight (or more) for drying. Tock.
Sand. Tick.
Apply another coat. Tock
Pause for drying. Tick.
Sand. Tock.
Et cetera.
Et cetera.
Et cetera.
For Spawn of Frankenscot, the paint of choice is an automotive two-part polyurethane that OH Rodgers (aka Ninjee) sprayed on. Both guys used rollers and chip brushes to get paint onto the non-flats, corners, and so forth.
Despite my hopes for safety orange, it looks as if the boat will remain basic paper white.
Spiffy nonskid is in place on the topsides...Ninjee chose a specialty product to rough up the paint where crew might need to walk. Coarse and medium silica sand from Imron mixed with a touch of grey pigment masked into place gives the non-skid its distinctive look. This texture covers the bow, the side decks, and is wrapped on the sheer where crew will need it for hiking with a trapeze.
Despite my hopes for safety orange, it looks as if the boat will remain basic paper white.
Spiffy nonskid is in place on the topsides...Ninjee chose a specialty product to rough up the paint where crew might need to walk. Coarse and medium silica sand from Imron mixed with a touch of grey pigment masked into place gives the non-skid its distinctive look. This texture covers the bow, the side decks, and is wrapped on the sheer where crew will need it for hiking with a trapeze.
The aft section of the cockpit will require a few of those fetching bathtub safety stickers, as the non-skid does not extend to the "wading pool" on the lido deck. And yes, there's a second coat of paint missing on half of the lido –– the phrase "painting oneself into a corner" comes to mind –– give it a few more days. Tick. Tock.
What makes a sailboat a sailboat? Well, most people can point to that key indicator of sailing-ness: a mast.
And Spawn, too, has one of them there sticky-uppy things. We made a road-trip for a scratch-and-dent Melges 20 mast last spring. No stranger to repairing carbon fiber rigs, Ninjee ground out and re-wrapped the crack that made the mast such a sweet bargain, and let it (Tick. Tock.) cure. A set of shrouds from Marty Kulman of Quantum and a nice new forestay, plus Frankenscot's old spinnaker halyard allowed us to dry-fit the mast yesterday.
And Spawn, too, has one of them there sticky-uppy things. We made a road-trip for a scratch-and-dent Melges 20 mast last spring. No stranger to repairing carbon fiber rigs, Ninjee ground out and re-wrapped the crack that made the mast such a sweet bargain, and let it (Tick. Tock.) cure. A set of shrouds from Marty Kulman of Quantum and a nice new forestay, plus Frankenscot's old spinnaker halyard allowed us to dry-fit the mast yesterday.
Aaaaaaaaand it fits, she concluded dryly.
Derek at JTR re-tooled the hiking racks from Frankenscot for us, smoothing out the curves to fit Spawn. Oh, the metal racks still vaguely resemble ADA-compliant hand-rails, but they make a very comfortable perch and now fit the hull like a pair of bespoke gloves.
With both racks in place, Spawn has a wingspan of just under 13 feet. I'm getting kind of a pterodactyl-at-the-ready vibe...
Derek at JTR re-tooled the hiking racks from Frankenscot for us, smoothing out the curves to fit Spawn. Oh, the metal racks still vaguely resemble ADA-compliant hand-rails, but they make a very comfortable perch and now fit the hull like a pair of bespoke gloves.
With both racks in place, Spawn has a wingspan of just under 13 feet. I'm getting kind of a pterodactyl-at-the-ready vibe...
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