Boatyard blues effect Matt and I as well as our boat.  I think it’s a necessary evil, but it takes its toll.  While we are waiting for repairs to be completed, we decided to beautify Sugar Shack.

Five years ago, we painted our dinghy davits that were showing some wear and tear.  Then 2 years ago, we painted the mast, boom, and bow sprit while we were in St. Maarten.  We have wanted to paint our bimini support poles for some time now, but thought that the best way to do it was to remove our bimini which was just too big of a job for the two of us to tackle on our own.

BIMINI SUPPORTS

The support poles get a lot of rubbing from our jib sheets and the paint has just worn down over the last 18 years.  So, since she is on the hard and the bimini is raised to thread the solar panels wires, we decided to get the job done.  We hired Bristol Marine to do several projects for us.

They masked off all areas, sanded and removed all flaking paint and glue residue, prepared metal with acid wash Alumiprep 33, rolled/brushed Zinchromate Yellow, Primer, applied Epoxy Primer White, sanded, and then painted by brush, 2 coats of Stark White AwlGrip (should have been cloud white, but they are close enough).

Photos below below show bimini supports with primer (lovely green), the cockpit table is gone (being sanded) and the entryway is being varnished.

We had to have the team redo some pieces because they were not done to our satisfaction.  But to Ben’s credit, they re-sanded and re-painted until we were happy.

Here are some shots where there was paint drip, low paint coverage, yellow primer on the bimini track, and bubbles in the varnish.  Matt even got in on the action to show them how it he wanted it done (and they call me the “perfectionist”)

And now it is simply smooth and lovely:

ENTRYWAY

Back in 2013, we had “Vision” varnish our entryway in St. Lucia.  It has had many a feet stomp across wearing it down and it was time to refresh it.  After all it is the first thing you see as you enter our dwelling.

This process requires a lot of masking as the old varnish is stripped way with a heat gun and scraper.  Haner, our worker said that it is a bit more difficult as we have a thin layer of varnish.  He has to be very gentle as not to overheat or burn the natural wood while removing the varnish.  If there was a thick coat, he could make better use of the heat gun.

The photo on the right shows where he removed some varnish and then shows the depleted varnish.

Once all of the old varnish was removed, they block sanded it, cleaned, applied yellow primer AwlWood and 10 coats of gloss (while sanding in between coats).

Entryway Completed and looking marvelous.

COCKPIT TABLE

Our cockpit table is protected with a wood stain, but it tends to need updating every other month.  The sun fades the stain and exposes the wood which could cause damage.  We decided to have the team sand the table and apply Semco Oil Natural Color to see if this will last a bit longer.

We really liked the look of the entryway at the half way mark and asked Bristol what the cost would be to do the same treatment to the cockpit table.  Unfortunately, it was way out of our budget at $2500 so we opted to go back to the Semco Oil Natural Color.

This is a photo of the table using StarBrite Stain. It actually is not really bad now, with the exception of the center edge where the flaps leave exposed surface.

The cockpit table all sanded and ready for Simco Oil

All ready to host dinner parties:  Super pretty!

TEAK ENGINE HATCH COVERS

Both the Port and Starboard Engine Teak is coming up off the cover.  We decided to remove them so we could properly glue them down.  It was so bad that when it rained it leaked a little bit into the engine room – and we can’t have a wet engine room.

Photo shows corner teak coming up and 2nd photo is Matt stepping on it and you can see the water seeping out.

Bristol sanded both hatches, so now we need to sand down the other teak steps on each sugar scoop before sealing with Star Brite.

The boatyard blues are always made better when your home looks good. It’s a slow process, but soon Sugar Shack will shake off her boatyard blues and be back in the water.  Who said that the boatyard blues can’t be productive?

BEFORE AND AFTER SHOTS:

Here are some before and after shots of the interior cabin during work and after the boat has been put back together.

Main or master cabin

Master cabin head (bathroom)

Aft cabin / office: