posted June 22, 2005 01:58 PM               

I put on a fresh coat of VC-17 last night. A bit tricky lying under the hull and trailer but the job is done. Lynn thinks the copper coloured highlights in my hair are quite trendy. I presume it will go black shortly, hiding the gray.

Last years coat of VC-17 still looked very good. We're thinking that once every 2 years might be enough. Our lake is quite cold so we get very little scum build-up. Any comments?

We also greased the keel mechanism. Thanks to everyone who posted information and photos over the last year or so. It was most useful. I've sanded down the rudder, filled the gashes and applied epoxy to seal the wood. Tonight I'll be applying VC-17 so it matches the hull. This seemed the way to go as we leave the rudder in the water for long periods of time. The rudder cheeks above the water line will remain natural wood.

posted June 22, 2005 02:17 PM               

As far as the rudder is concerned, when I had my boat slipped, I used to remove my rudder after each trip, and stow it inside. An extra step at the end of the day, but I didn't want(and niether did the PO)anti fouling paint on the blade! I don't remove it if I'm sailing for several days in a row, ie like if you're at the cottage for a weekend In that case, I'd remove it before I went home.
Eric

posted June 23, 2005 01:23 AM               

The payoff: Sailing Saturday afternoon. We're on starboard tack but that's a lot of traffic to get through. Queen City Yacht Club in the background (Ken's summer home).

Eight meters maneuvering. Beautiful boats

Close quarters during sail past

This evening I put new sealant between the rub rails. The old sealant was brittle and crumbling. Lynn applied Cetol to the grab rails and teak trim around the hatches. She also put new gasket material around the forward hatch. Saturday morning should see us sailing out of the Village of Rosseau in Shortwave.

posted June 23, 2005 09:39 AM               

While D'Arcy was helping to clutter up Toronto Harbour with RCYC sailpast, :-) Queen City YC was holding our own sailpast. Note the formal sailing attire of the gentleman standing before the mast on his dockmate's Nonsuch (that's me!)

Lynn's backside is just visible under the loose-footed sail. There's no danger of getting whacked on the head if you sit up there. I kidded the skipper all day about the missing jib.

posted June 23, 2005 12:39 PM               

Don't worry guys, we're much more casual on Shortwave. I've been wearing this blazer one day a year for the last 30 years. I used to wear it while sailing my Lazer at the Kitsilano Yacht Club sail past. It fit a little better then (It must be shrinking).

Note the neat “in mast” mainsail furling.

posted June 24, 2005 09:07 PM               

Now, can you ID the boat, and it age?

I've seen smaller DIY kit boats called Weekender. They're gaff rigged sloops though. This baby has all kinds of sail

Thanks for posting D'Arcy

posted June 28, 2005 11:28 PM               

After sanding the filler, I applied 3 coats of epoxy. The first coat penetrates into the wood and filler, second coat covers, and the final coat will hopefully make sure I don't sand off the second when sanding before painting. Here is the rudder after being filled and coated with epoxy.

My epoxy coats ran a bit so I had a tough sanding job leveling the hardened epoxy smooth. After sanding, I applied two coats of VC-17. It's great paint but because it's such a thin coating, all my imperfections are visible.

As a guy who spends way too much time in the office, I'm not great craftsman; but I'm learning. In hindsight I should have been more thorough during the filling process. Racers who desire a super smooth surface sand and fair the surface several times. Sometimes you can see more filler than rudder! This isn't as important to us since we are casual cruisers. The rebuilt rudder will work better than before and it's now completely sealed. Should be good for another decade or so.

posted June 29, 2005 10:43 AM               

I had a similar effect when I finished my keel this spring. A couple of spots weren't sanded as smooth as I had thought. VC-17 shows off the imperfection .

I basically did the same work to my rudder blade last year, except I went with an additional 3 coats of Cetol, followed by 3 more coats of Cetol Gloss. Since I keep the boat on the trailer, I keep the wood finish I'm sure my imperfections would show up with VC-17 though.

I figure we should likely be even in the races, with our un-faired foils

Eric

posted June 29, 2005 12:33 PM               

His answer was that there is so much turbulance by time the water has flowed pass the hull and centreboard that he would do nothing. He recommended that you would be better spending the time sailing.

A lot of cruising boats have the same imperfections we do on the rudder. We're spending the rest of the summer time sailing. Last weekend was great being on the water.