Sailing Sans Souci

Uncategorized · July 6, 2021 0

Another Project Weekend

As previously mentioned, I have that dreaded varnish project to get to. The bowsprit on Sans Souci was looking pretty bad. It’s by far the largest amount of teak above decks and it was peeling and looked terrible. I needed to get it refinished, I didn’t want the teak to begin to rot– as resistant to rot as teak is. 

I began by pulling off the stainless steel chafing plates on Friday evening and then scraped the loose chips with a paint scraper. After I had rid the wood of chips, it was time to sand. The secret to a good final finish is prep work, so I sanded, and sanded, and sanded some more. I took as much off as I could with my random orbit sander but that could only reach some of it. I spent a considerable amount of time hand sanding with progressively finer sand paper. Once I got it to a condition I thought was good enough to varnish… it started raining.  It rained for the next 36 hours.

Saturday was a complete wash-out for outdoor activities. You’ll recall that it also rained the entire weekend Memorial Day, as well (sigh.) I used the time to remove the Single Side Band radio and list it on Ebay for sale. I have decided that the Garmin InReach is good enough and I’m tired of hitting my head on the unit as I get in and out of my chart table (office.) The InReach allows not just the satellite tracking previously mentioned in this blog, but also messaging and access to weather data over the satellite network. The only thing I’d be losing is access to SailMail over SSB and I’m willing to make the sacrifice. Removing the system was a fairly big job because I also pulled out the wiring, the modem, and the antenna tuner with it. If you know anyone who needs an SSB, send them to my listing.

Sunday, the 4th of July was cool and still too damp to varnish. I spent a little time working on the mast steps project. I had procured 31 stainless steel, folding mast steps that need to be screwed into the mast. It’s a time-consuming job to mark, drill, tap and then attach the step. I’m also using thin plastic cutting boards trimmed into rectangles to insulate the stainless steps from the aluminum mast. Two dissimilar metals will eventually corrode each other due to electrolysis. I protect the mast from the stainless steel screws using Lock-Tite 243 which is a dielectric thread locker. Earlier, I was able to get the three steps on that I could reach from the deck and then had to wait for my safety system to arrive. I’m using my climbing harness rigged with two rope ascenders. I had that assembled by the weekend and got to it. I hadn’t been hanging in my harness long before I realized that it’s too uncomfortable for long-term use. I have purchased a proper bosun’s chair for future efforts on this project. I got a couple more installed and then the drill bit/tap I am using broke off in the mast (ugh!) That ended my efforts on the steps for the weekend.

This is going to be a big job at which I’ll need to peck away over time. Once it’s done, I will have a way to safely climb the mast solo when necessary.

My safety setup

Fireworks and a rather large dock party, what fun!

By Monday, the weather had cleared enough to get back to the varnish project. I started with re-sanding the wood which had soaked up the rain from the last two days. Then I carefully wiped everything down to remove any dust. I’m using Epiphanes high-gloss varnish which goes for about $50 a quart so I don’t want to screw this up. It’s got the highest level of dissolved solids and will last, if applied properly. Proper application would be 6-8 coats and I have to wait a day in between coats which presents a problem as I am leaving for a trip out west next week. I’ll try to get a coat a day, weather permitting.

Besides the bowsprit, I’m also varnishing the cabin trim eyebrows

The next item on the list was to install a red light in the cockpit for night running. Red light tends to interfere less with one’s night vision and when installed as indirect light, like I am doing, should provide some illumination when I’m operating at night without compromising the ability to see in the dark. This project involved opening up the NavPod to pull wires through the steering pedestal to below decks and installing a switch. As you can see from the picture below, a previous owner thoughtfully left a messenger in place for the job; a messenger is a piece of line left from previous wire pulling used for future additions. I looped the messenger back around and pulled it through with the new wires so it’s there for any subsequent needs.

I drilled holes to pull the light’s wires inside the housing and for mounting the switch. I bought a on-off-on switch that I can add to for if I decide to add white or blue lights to the cockpit later, which I am considering. 

The next item on the list was to replace the accessory outlet in the cockpit with a proper one. The old one was a rigged up contraption with a two pronged plug and an accessory outlet on a wire. I’m installing an accessory outlet directly. I am stopped on this project until I can procure the correct hole saw but I wired it in preparation and it will be a quick one to finish.

I will keep plugging away at the varnish and mast steps until next Tuesday. When I return I will need to quickly prepare the boat for our cruise to Maine. Dad, Sylvia and I depart later in July for that voyage. I am a little disappointed that due to varnishing, I likely won’t get another weekend voyage anywhere before I leave but I’ll have knocked out some important projects and Sans Souci will be better prepared because of it.

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