Robin & Defiance's Blogs life aboard Defiance April 2007

All thumbnail's have a big image linked to them, if you click on the thumbnail picture
http://www.cruising.ca/day logs/docs/DL_06087.html Covering June 5 to June 10

June 5, 2007

Marine Forecast issued for Eastern Lake Ontario. Issued: 10.30 AM EDT Tuesday 5 June 2007 for the period ending at 10.30 AM Wednesday with an outlook for the following 24 hours. Forecast: ..Small craft wind warning in effect.. Wind south 10 to 15 knots veering to southwest 20 near noon then increasing to west 25 to 30 early this afternoon. Wind diminishing to northwest 15 late this evening and to light overnight. Scattered showers with risk of a thunderstorm ending late this afternoon then fair. Waves 1 metre or less building to 1 to 2 this afternoon. Outlook..Light and variable becoming southwesterlies.

The weather has not been cooperating with my concept of working on the skiff outside so progress and my days have been indoors.

June 6

I am now settled into the sanding process that brings a much more detailed overall view of what I actually have to work with and how much real damage there is to the boats structure. So far I have found one more cracked plank and a broken another broken frame as the wood reveals its secrets.

I am now roughly 25% of the way through the first rough sanding of the inside of the skiff. Whatever the chemistry of the last 40 years it leaves a residue based on a combination of the years of varnish and paint that turns to a gooey consistency just before you reach bare wood. The biggest issue is that it will adversely effect the epoxy that I am so strongly relying on for repairs meaning that I really do have to get the stuff out of there. The task of sanding is based on the first couple of days take virtually hundreds of dollars of sandpaper.

Some of the planks have multiple cracks in them and the wood is very dry making exactly how I approach the repair an interesting challenge. At this time I still believe laminating another layer over the distressed plank is the answer. The problem is I will have to build a clamping mechanism that will clamp the area without distorting the natural lines.

I have rough sanded most of the aft port side and have a first test of how the epoxy will react to the residual varnish# that will be ready for inspection Thursday.

This week is all about the cedar skiff that is a daily task that I am working on at the shop.

Marine Forecast issued for Eastern Lake Ontario.Issued: 3.00 AM EDT Wednesday 6 June 2007 for the period ending at 3.00 AM Thursday with an outlook for the following 24 hours. Forecast: Wind west 10 to 15 knots diminishing to light and variable this morning. Fair. Waves near 1 metre lowering to less than 1 this morning. Outlook..Light and variable increasing to moderate southeasterlies then veering to southerlies.

Not much to say. Hours and hours of sanding, detail sanding of a soft wood coated by a sticky residue. The center image shows such a spot that is heck on paper. Not only does it clog paper super fast it attacks the glue. The bad news is that wherever the remains of the "varnish/paint&stripper" exists the epoxy glues I plan to use in the repair process will not adhere. So there is nothing to do but take each plank section at a time which can be painstaking. The spot pictured here took 5 sheets of mouse paper and nearly a hour to get out.

The stern of the Cedar Skiff is 95% sanded and the areas for repair marked with blue tape.

Friday June 8, 2007

The bugs relented enough Thursday afternoon for me to get the propane cover and lazarette bulwarks painted and a new scavenge pump installed for the bath.

Marine Forecast issued for Lake Ontario. Issued: 3.00 AM EDT Friday 8 June 2007 for the period ending at 3.00 AM Saturday with an outlook for the following 24 hours. Forecast: ..Small craft wind warning in effect.. Wind south 20 knots veering to southwest this morning and to northwest 15 this evening then diminishing to 10 overnight. Fair. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms beginning this afternoon. Waves 1 metre or less.

Here it is Friday again with severe thunderstorms predicted for this afternoon. It is nice still and only 08:00 EDT so by the time I stop by the libary hot spot to upload this I should be able to get in a nice 5 hours sanding on the skiff and be home before the storm.

The rain arrived and left us with a gift. A perfect rainbow over Waupoos Island.

Bob launced HIPPO a beautiful 44 ELCO on Saturady and was on his way Sunday back to Collins Bay.

Sunday June, 10

I have now finished renewing all the above waterline coatings and am ready to start on the interior upholstery. We may consider a PART trade of a small rural residence. On Sunday June 10 I did what I call another single handed lap around Waupoos Island which has become my testing grounds. This time I put the pedal down to over 10 knots for most of the outside leg which is almost 3 miles to see if I could shake anything loose. Other than creating a huge stern wave and burning a lot of extra fuel everything did its job 100%. It should be noted that this is the 5th such trip I have made this spring by myself that terminates in parking Defiance stern to,on a 40' finger dock unassisted and totally ALONE.

Marine Forecast issued for Lake Ontario. Issued: 3.00 AM EDT Monday 11 June 2007 for the period ending at 3.00 AM Tuesday with an outlook for the following 24 hours. Forecast: Wind light and variable. Fair. Waves less than 1 metre. Outlook..Light and variable.