August 10, 2008 - Well the hard part is over..WHEW!I finally found a good use for blueprints (beside building stuff) it makes great masking paper!And if I knew who invented blue(easy release) masking tape, I would put him on my Christmas card list! Its been about 6-weeks since I masked off the nonskid to paint the topsides, and I had no problem getting the tape off today, after installing the last coat on everything except the nonskid.I will tape off and roll the top coat of 2-part with flattening agent to highlight the nonskid this week, then its wide open to start bolting everything back on! These will be the final picks to bore you with till she's fitted out.The mast will all it's bruises and bumps wanted to get freshened up as well after the straightening process. Several of the dents required drilling a 3/8" hole on the opposite side of the mast, which allowed access for a rounded-off punch, to carefully push out the dents with a few blows of the hammer, stopping and checking often with a straight edge. These access holes (along with all the extra holes installed over the last 30 years) were then epoxied to close (epoxy with colloidal filler). After fairing the epoxy this week, the will get wet sanded with about an 80 grit to get some 'bite' for the primer, then 2-coats of 2-part urethane, as will the boom. I had not looked forward to tackling this mast with all its problems, I really contemplated canning it. But when you see it you will never know how bad it was, and I do not believe it's strength has been compromised.As a sidenote, almost all of the rivets used from the factory on the mast hardware are rotten to the point where the rivot top just fell off when the drill bit hit them? So all the rivits have been drilled out and will be replaced with SS rivots for most hardeware. The cast aluminum masthead and foot will be tapped for machine bolts. The old rivits were not aluminum, if they were SS then the salt air must have really corroded them (the boat was primarily sailed in the gulf before I got it)This afternoon we pulled out the original Neil Pryde sails to look at them again. Margaret said "your not putting those old rags on that boat are you"! So I guess we are ordering new sails this week! (I think she found a quote I got a few weeks ago from Mack Sails!) I measured the old sails and will be listing them on the classified section on www.Odayowners.com. The jib has some rust stains and repairs but usable an dhas a window. The main if cleaned and re-conditioned is definitely usable. Has the original Oday 20 insignia.She will be on the water soon!That is all for now, I have to go to work to rest tomorrow!
08/11/08 - The nonskid received primer and one coat of topsides color. I masked it off for the other 2 coats so the nonskid would not get "filled-in" too much. The flattening agent will dull the shine on the last coat to somewhat highlight the nonskid and help it be non slick. Without the flattening agent the nonskid when wet gets pretty slick with shiny paint on it. Much slicker than just gelcoat.
08/12/08 - You better believe that hull/deck joint is sealed like a drum and bullet proof!The old rivots had thick cast heads on them like drive pin heads. I wonder if using a Permatex form-a-gasket would work to stop corrosion under SS rivots and bolts to aluminum?I'm talking with Mack Sails about ordering the jib (125%)with a wire luff and use a Harken small boat furler drum and swivel and tension it with a magic box. I would still have the standard forestay. We could always roll it up and fly cruising spinnaker off the forestay. What do you think? The small furler drum may not accomodate enough line for this size sail?
08/13/08 - I like the idea for a quick release to tension for and aft, but I prefer it at the backstay where it can release for downwind. The wire luff jib would cancel the need for a furler extrusion, which I do not want on this small boat. The sail just furls on the wire. I found a Harken drum/upper swivel unit last night which is sized for up to 20'boat, which I did not know they made. The O'20 is fractional rig, and this one never rigged for spinnaker, I will have to see where the factory rigged the top hardware for spinnaker? I guess you could go to the masthead with the spinnaker even though the boat is a fractional rig for the jib, why not?
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