Early Fall in Baltimore - 2017

Sep 28 thru Oct 6

--Blogpost written by Bob

The highlight of my day today (Thursday, September 28) was having a spot of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) removed from the skin on my chest by a dermatologist.  The small tumor was a little bigger than a quarter.  Supposedly, it was caused by excessive sun exposure a long time ago and it was the type of cancer that doesn't typically spread to other parts of the body.  After my surgical procedure, we went out to lunch at Carroll's Creek Cafe in Annapolis as a little celebration.  My chest was still numb a couple hours later.

There were two major projects that continued into this time period:

(1) making shoe rack for under dining table

(2) refinishing the teak toe rail

Plus, we added one more quick project: making a fabric cover for our onboard barbecue grill.

Refinish Teak Toe Rail (cont'd)

With great weather forecasted until Sunday, October 8 (when rain is expected) we decided to go full blast on refinishing our toe rail.   The last time I refinished the toe rail was several years ago.  The aged Cetol was chipped and peeling in many areas.  My first step in this process was to spot sand the bad areas (using a Fein vibratory sander) and blend them into the not-so-bad areas.  After this step was complete, I taped off all around the toe rail, inboard and outboard, using 3M's #471 blue line plastic tape so that I minimized the clean up after coating.  (This tape is the very best to use for this purpose--it holds a great line and it sticks to the surface through all kinds of weather for at least 7 days.)  Then. I lightly sanded (by hand) the entire toe rail using 180-grit sandpaper--this step roughed up the area well so that I would get good adhesion of the new coat of Cetol and it tended to smooth out the surface.

At this point Maggie is applying the second coat 
of Cetol on the aft port section 
of the toe rail.

I applied 5 coats of Cetol, sanded between each coat.  Just prior to the first and second coats, I used 180-grit sandpaper.  Just prior to the third and fourth coats, I used 220-grit sandpaper and then, I used 400-grit just prior to the fifth and final coat.  I realize that the Cetol instructions state that no sanding is necessary between coats but it certainly makes the finished product look much better.  I waited 24 hours between coats to insure complete curing before applying the next coat.

Now, where did I put the lid for the paint can?

Maggie and I both had a mishap during the teak refinishing project.  Early on in the project, I left the paint can lid on the foredeck where I was applying a coat of Cetol.  I mistakingly sat on the wet lid.  I now have brown stains on my gym shorts and on my new underwear--yes. a big lid-sized brown spot on my underwear and the stain won't come out.  Later, I learned to keep the paint can lid on the dock next to the boat.  Maggie helped me apply a coat one day and when she was done she returned to the dock, stepped on the wet paint can lid.  When she picked up her foot the paint can lid stuck to her foot just long enough to land in the water beside the boat.  I had to buy a paint can at the nearby hardware store to preserve the remaining Cetol until the job was completed.

From start to finish, it took fifteen days to complete this project.

The completely refinished toe rail looks pretty
much like a good varnish job.

Fabric Cover for Barbecue Grill

Our (Kuuma-brand) onboard barbecue grill is constructed from stainless steel.  Rain does not cause it to rust but salt water spray causes rust stains to appear.  We decided to make a fabric cover for the barbecue grill, mostly to prevent the exposure to salt spray.  This was Maggie's project all the way.  She started my making a pattern using felt-backed plastic table cloth material.  Then she took the pattern apart and used it for cutting the toast-colored Sunbrella fabric, allowing additional material for the seams.

Our Kuuma-brand onboard barbecue grill gets a lot
of use while we are on our way down
the Intracoastal Waterway.

Here Maggie is sewing a patch that is placed on the
inside where the cutout is made for the
handle of the barbecue's lid.

The completed barbecue grill cover--all done in one day!
After this photo was taken Maggie made a few tweaks
that made the cover appear more form-fitted.
(We still had the blue plastic tape next to
the toe rail from that project.)

U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis

We took a day off from our few remaining boat projects to attend the sailboat show in Annapolis on Friday, October 6.  We picked up a few little things we needed and went on board the new Beneteau 41.1--it's a nice boat with more space than we have now but the boat manufacturers use very little real teak nowadays and it makes the interior look cheap.

The U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis
on October 6, 2017

Conclusion

We postponed working on the shoe rack project until Sunday and Monday when rain is expected since this project is primarily done indoors.  The results will be covered in more detail in our next blogpost.  Our boat has never looked as good as it does right now--of course, I've never had so much time available to maintain it like I do now.

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