The Shining

With only three work-on-the-boat days left before we get back in the water, we have to choose our battles. Today, we started with an easy one. We took the little cockpit step ladder home last Sunday and during the week disassembled it and then sanded and refinished the teak steps.  We had to drill out the rivets holding the steps in place and once that was done, we tried to polish up the aluminum frame, without much success. We sanded the teak steps and applied four coats of Sikkens Cetrol Marine Light.  Once at the boat yard this morning, we reassembled the ladder using stainless bolts, washers and stop-nuts. Looks OK, especially when you compare it to the fly bridge ladder that is next to it in this photo.

Next, it was time to bite the bullet and apply PolyGlo to the hull. While this stuff is remarkably easy to apply, I was surprised at how much hull a 34-ft. boat really has and how many times you must go up the ladder, apply the PolyGlo, come back down, move the ladder and repeat the process again. While doing this, several people came by to say how good it looked. Good for them maybe, but not good enough for us. After applying the first coat, I walked around the boat trying to catch the light just right and the finish, while much more shiny than it was before, looked very uneven.  So, after taking a break to read the directions on the PlyGlo bottle, ("...will look uneven at first and up to four applications may be required"), I began again.

I knew this wouldn't be easy.

In our shed we have many other folks working on their boats and music seems to be the lubricant that makes them work. Larry, three boats away, likes rock music from his satellite receiver and I must admit, it isn't bad.  A new couple, with a Carver just two boats away, arrived with a boom box and turned up the volume on WMRQ-FM, which plays "music from the sick and demented" as far as I could tell. As I mounted the ladder to apply a second coat of PolyGlo, I could only remember the cold days of winter, where, all alone, I could enjoy NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" as my only entertainment.

Two coats of PlyGlo look OK, although a third would look even better.  The pictures show the reflection off the hull.  The old Silverton's hull was never so clean or looked so good.

After that, there was still the port side of the cockpit that needed a second coat of paint. We got that done and then called it a day.