Summer in Baltimore
May 18 thru May 23
—Blogpost written by Bob
Saturday, May 18
The sky was overcast this morning as I started the sanding on the topside of the hard top for the dodger. I got the first coat of white paint on it by 9 AM.
Along with the light blue paint on the underside of the dodger hard top, we also painted the inside of the dorade vents with the same light blue paint. We like the fresh new look of the light blue paint!
We generally took it easy on Sunday afternoon. However, I did muster enough energy to remove some overhead lights by the mast and layout and cut some teak covers for the old holes.
In the late afternoon I cut and shaped pieces of teak to make covers for covering the area the where the interior lights were located near the mast. I stained the covers to match the rest of the teak in the main salon and set them outside to dry overnight. (Tomorrow I will start a two coats per day varnishing process for them. It will probably take 7 to 8 coats to get the degrees of finish that I prefer.)
For dinner we had leftover pizza from Italian Market in Annapolis! The end of our day was very peaceful. I'm surprised at how our many boat projects are coming along...
This morning I got the third (and final) coat of white polyurethane paint on the topside of the hard dodger. (Of course, this was after light sanding the previous coat of paint using 220-grit sandpaper.) We then drove to Annapolis to pick up a lot of supplies (mostly stainless steel fasteners) needed for the upcoming projects.
We had lunch at Jack's Fortune, a Chinese restaurant near Fawcetts. We like this restaurant because it is good food and is affordable for everyday type lunches. We also picked up some much needed groceries while in Annapolis. I had to return some stainless steel fittings that were the incorrect size (my fault) and ship my old AIS receiver which sold on eBay for $150.
When we returned to the boat I applied the first coat of gloss varnish to the small teak covers I made yesterday, (I should be able to apply a coat in the morning and evening until they are finished.) I have no pictures to show for anything...
Today was a beautiful spring day with cool temperatures and a light breeze all day. The sky was clear and the sun shone brightly all day.
This morning I assembled the handrails to the hard top of the dodger--this was a pretty easy task since I had the holes aligned previously and had a long 1/4-inch bolt in places to maintain their alignment.
The next task was to drill the holes through the appendage on the hard top for the GPS mount and the cable. The cable hole had to be 3/4-inch diameter in order the pass the cable's plug through the hole.
Next up, was cleaning and buffing the solar panels for installation on the hard top. Once the solar panels were installed, I mounted the Scanstrut-brand penetration seal which allows the cables to pass through the dodger's hard top without having a leak path for rainwater.
My day ended about 5 PM when all my projects were done for the day. I was beat!
At 4:30 PM the sun came out, just in time for happy hour. For now, I have to wrap up this blogpost but there will be more boat project work coming along in the next few days, weeks, and even months. Stay tuned...
Thanks for following our blog!
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| The first coat of white polyurethane paint was applied by 9 AM this morning. Two more coats are still needed, applied a day apart. |
Along with the light blue paint on the underside of the dodger hard top, we also painted the inside of the dorade vents with the same light blue paint. We like the fresh new look of the light blue paint!
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| We applied light blue paint to the inside of all four dorade vents and we love the fresh new look! |
We ended our day at a little dock party with about 10 other people on our dock. We had drinks and appetizers. It was a fun time.
Sunday, May 19
Sunday began as a beautiful sunny day in the low 70’s. With afternoon thunder showers possibly in the forecast, I decided to get the second coat of white paint on the hard top early. By 8 AM I was sanding over yesterday’s (first) coat with 220-grit sandpaper. (I noticed that the paint lays on a lot thicker with the brush than the roller. Perhaps I should have done the entire first coat with a brush and subsequent coats with a roller. Oh well, there's always a next time.)
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| Hard top of dodger after second coat of white Polyurethane paint. |
I think that after one more coat with the roller on Monday morning it will be perfect.
We went out for lunch at Kooper's Tavern in Fells Point--we walked there and back. We also got ice cream (no sugar added for me) at Kilwins. On the walk back to the boat we stopped a few minutes to watch the Sunday trash boat (our entertainment for the day and we are so easily entertained).
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| The Sunday trash boat picks trash out of the water in Baltimore Harbor. |
In the late afternoon I cut and shaped pieces of teak to make covers for covering the area the where the interior lights were located near the mast. I stained the covers to match the rest of the teak in the main salon and set them outside to dry overnight. (Tomorrow I will start a two coats per day varnishing process for them. It will probably take 7 to 8 coats to get the degrees of finish that I prefer.)
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| Teak covers after stain application. |
For dinner we had leftover pizza from Italian Market in Annapolis! The end of our day was very peaceful. I'm surprised at how our many boat projects are coming along...
Monday, May 20
This morning I got the third (and final) coat of white polyurethane paint on the topside of the hard dodger. (Of course, this was after light sanding the previous coat of paint using 220-grit sandpaper.) We then drove to Annapolis to pick up a lot of supplies (mostly stainless steel fasteners) needed for the upcoming projects.
We had lunch at Jack's Fortune, a Chinese restaurant near Fawcetts. We like this restaurant because it is good food and is affordable for everyday type lunches. We also picked up some much needed groceries while in Annapolis. I had to return some stainless steel fittings that were the incorrect size (my fault) and ship my old AIS receiver which sold on eBay for $150.
When we returned to the boat I applied the first coat of gloss varnish to the small teak covers I made yesterday, (I should be able to apply a coat in the morning and evening until they are finished.) I have no pictures to show for anything...
Tuesday, May 21
Today was a beautiful spring day with cool temperatures and a light breeze all day. The sky was clear and the sun shone brightly all day.
This morning I assembled the handrails to the hard top of the dodger--this was a pretty easy task since I had the holes aligned previously and had a long 1/4-inch bolt in places to maintain their alignment.
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| The grab bars bolt through the hard top. I had to enlarge the holes slightly to get the threaded rod welded to the grab bars through the holes. |
The next task was to drill the holes through the appendage on the hard top for the GPS mount and the cable. The cable hole had to be 3/4-inch diameter in order the pass the cable's plug through the hole.
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| The GPS mount turned out pretty neat I think. The cable runs down the center of the mount. |
Next up, was cleaning and buffing the solar panels for installation on the hard top. Once the solar panels were installed, I mounted the Scanstrut-brand penetration seal which allows the cables to pass through the dodger's hard top without having a leak path for rainwater.
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| The solar panel cable penetration seal is shown at the lower portion of this image. |
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| The little penetration seal on the right was a new one I installed today for the GPS cable. |
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| Most of the work I did today was aimed at eliminating penetrations through our canvas work and make them come through the hard top with proper waterproof penetration seals. |
My day ended about 5 PM when all my projects were done for the day. I was beat!
Wednesday, May 22
Wow! Another beautiful spring day! The sky was a bit overcast but the temperature was cool—in the 70’s.
First thing in the morning, I lightly sanded the small teak covers I’m making and applied the fourth coat of varnish. Afterward I cleaned up the cockpit and found the cap screw (for one of the penetration seals) that I dropped yesterday. (This saved me from making a new one!)
Then, I plugged the holes for the electrical wiring by the mast—these holes will be covered by the small teak covers I’m making. While I had the white silicone sealant out, I plugged the holes around the penetrating cables on the underside of the hard dodger, both the GPS cable and the cables from the two solar panels mounted on the hard top. I plugged the holes in the penetration seals (for the cables) with black silicone from above.
My next operation was cutting (since I’m grouping similar operations together today). I cut the last strut for the bimini to length (with a hacksaw) and I cut the metal mesh material (with sheet metal shears) we purchased to make two new A/C inlet air filters.
Today is the ninth anniversary of our public wedding day--we get to celebrate two wedding anniversaries each year! (We got married at the course house a couple weeks before our wedding ceremony.)
We drove to Annapolis and completed a lot of errands to keep our boat projects moving ahead. I purchased two pad eyes to be mounted near the helm seat for fastening our safety harnesses for future gulf stream crossings.
We stopped at Annapolis Custom Yacht Canvas to buy some 1" thick closed cell foam that Maggie needs to finish the new backs for for our cockpit cushions. Donna was extremely helpful! (We also picked up two pool noodles to use for the rounded cushion at the top of the back cushions.)
We had lunch at the Boatyard in Annapolis, one of our favorite restaurants.
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| I obtained this A/C filter material from Cruisair of Annapolis. I bought a 3 foot square sheet and cut out two 13" x 13" pieces for the inside of our air inlet grate. |
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| Lola sleeping on the job! |
Thursday, May 23
Today is the ninth anniversary of our public wedding day--we get to celebrate two wedding anniversaries each year! (We got married at the course house a couple weeks before our wedding ceremony.)
We drove to Annapolis and completed a lot of errands to keep our boat projects moving ahead. I purchased two pad eyes to be mounted near the helm seat for fastening our safety harnesses for future gulf stream crossings.
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| We purchased two new folding pad eyes for mounting near the helm seat. We will be fastening our safety harnesses to these during our gulf stream crossings. |
We stopped at Annapolis Custom Yacht Canvas to buy some 1" thick closed cell foam that Maggie needs to finish the new backs for for our cockpit cushions. Donna was extremely helpful! (We also picked up two pool noodles to use for the rounded cushion at the top of the back cushions.)
We had lunch at the Boatyard in Annapolis, one of our favorite restaurants.
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| We had lunch at the Boatyard in Annapolis, one of our favorite restaurants. |
Just after we unloaded all our purchased items onto the boat, an afternoon thunderstorm came through the marina.
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| The thunderstorm rolled through the marina at about 3:30 PM. Our bimini is down, waiting for the new one. |
At 4:30 PM the sun came out, just in time for happy hour. For now, I have to wrap up this blogpost but there will be more boat project work coming along in the next few days, weeks, and even months. Stay tuned...
Thanks for following our blog!
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