Summer in Baltimore

June 16 thru June 19

—Blogpost written by Bob

Somewhere I heard that it wasn't a good idea to start a new blogpost with a sunset--but last night's sunset to too pretty to ignore.

Last night's beautiful sunset 
in the marina.

Sunday, June 16

Since Maggie had a morning flight out of BWI, I was up early this morning. I got right to work cutting and fitting the last two pieces of teak trim on the new fold down table. I epoxied the trim pieces in place with thickened epoxy and waited a couple hours until it hardened. After it was sufficiently hardened, I sanded the trim smooth with my orbital sander. Then, I cleaned the top and bottom of the table’s surface using a razor blade and mineral spirits. I must say that it’s starting to look good!
  

New drop down table prior to
filling, staining and
varnishing.

There are several areas where the fit up of the teak trim is not perfect. I researched online ways to cover up mistakes in woodworking (like the gaps in the trim fit up) and I found a water-based wood filler that accepts stain—it’s called Timber Mate. I ordered it on Amazon and it will be here late tomorrow.  (The delivery is so fast because I am a member of Amazon Prime.)

This water-based wood filler comes
highly recommended. It was 
manufactured in Australia.

I was cleaning things up my dockside work area as the rain drops started to fall all around me. It was almost noon and time for a lunch break anyway.

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It rained a few times throughout the afternoon. Since I planned to do outside work today, my workday was done at noon. I worked on my plan for the next week, making some big revisions actually. Originally I had planned to add insulation under the v-berth on Monday but I just didn’t feel like disassembling the v-berth for probably two days at this time. (This might be a better project for late-September.) So, my plan now is to do some needed electrical (110-volt) repairs tomorrow. The expected rain will not effect this indoor project.

In the evening, I had some leftover beef stew and a glass of my favorite Pinot Noir (Erath from Oregon) for dinner. 

Monday, June 17

It was sunny in the morning and relatively warm (low 80's).  Rain is expected, starting around 4 PM and continuing throughout the remainder of the day.

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Since the stationary hinge for the new drop down table will bolt through the bulkhead just above the sink on the opposite side, I decided to make a nice teak backing plate and use castle nuts and washers.  So, while I had favorable weather, I decided to make the backing plate, using a piece of 1/4" thick teak I already had.  It turned out pretty nice.  Since this piece is the only one that is completely finished as of now, I immediately stained it to match the other teak in our boat.  (I'm waiting for the wood filler for the other pieces.)

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After a lot of body contortions and colorful language I got the new outlet box and outlet installed under the port settee in the main salon. But I broke the fancy teak outlet plate (one of the two that I carefully stained and varnished last week) because it fit the outlets too tightly.  Of course, there is nothing to show for all my work (about 2-1/2 hours) since it is all hidden from view. 

The back of the outlet enclosure
from inside the locker.

However, it is much safer than the previous installation since there are no exposed wires in the locker under the forward port cushion.

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About 2 PM, the special wood filler I ordered arrived and I quickly applied it to the cracks that remained in the table trim after my somewhat poor results at fitting. It applied very easily. (Tomorrow morning, I will carefully sand off the excess and determine where to go from there. If the cracks still show, I will apply another layer—if not, I will apply the (dark reddish) stain that matches the boat’s interior teak.)

Timber Mate wood filler applied to the cracks
where the pieces of teak trim join together.  
Poor fit up is one of the disadvantages 
of working on the pier with 
portable tools.

According to the instructions, the Timber Mate wood filler should be dry enough to sand in 30 minutes.  I waited about an hour before sanding and it was certainly sufficiently dry.  I was able to sand off the excess, tape off the table, and apply the stain in the evening.  As advertised the wood filler fully accepted the stain.

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My new lens was delivered late in the day. As I previously mentioned I had this identical lens and sold it when we moved out of our house in Annapolis. I really missed the artistic quality of this lens—I had to get one again!

One of the amazing qualities of this lens is its
ability to maintain a very narrow focal range
and render the remainder of the image
as a soft creamy background.

It has been hot and humid all morning and into the afternoon. The storm clouds came in and blocked out the sun at 3:30 PM.  The rain started about 4:45 PM and stopped and started again and continued this pattern throughout the evening.

Tuesday, June 18

I got up early and applied the first coat of (Epifanes Gloss) varnish to the table trim. The table was setup inside on our dining table because of the rain.  The air conditioned cabin should promote excellent drying if I can keep the cat hair off the varnish.  (Fortunately, at the end of the day there was NO cat hair on the varnish!)

The first coat of varnish always dries or
soaks into the wood unevenly.

I decided to make trip to Annapolis in the morning since I have a number of errands to do--you know, important stuff, like going to the liquor store and PetsMart.

One of our normal stops when in Annapolis of late is Naval Bagels—they have the best bagels in the area, in our opinion. I ate one bagel there with a cup of coffee and I bought 6 more to go for during the week. 

Another regular stop was always Fawcetts Boat Supplies. There, I got another can of Epifanes Gloss Varnish (Epifanes was developed by the Dutch and is manufactured in Thomaston, Maine for the North American markets) and a ton of stainless steel fasteners.  The fasteners included a couple that I need to mount the new table and the new 1/4" diameter nylon-inserted nuts and flat washers to replace all 52 of the nuts on the underside of our genoa track (a project for later in the week).

Other stops included the liquor store, PetsMart, and Home Depot. I also stopped at Safeway (across the street from the marina) for a few groceries I needed. By the time I got back to the boat and put everything where it belongs, it was 2:30 PM—it was too late in the day to start another boat project.

At the liquor store in Annapolis, I picked up this
delicious cucumber-flavored vodka made
by Effen in Holland.  I no longer
have to make my own.

The drink shown above is simply cucumber-flavored vodka and diet tonic water.  The cucumber flavoring is so mild that almost anything else would overpower it.  (Yes, I started happy hour a little early today.)

During my (luxuriously timed) happy hour I designed the leg apparatus for the new drop down table.  I will make a teak U-shaped bracket that will allow the table leg to be attached to the table as well as form part of the locking mechanism when the table is folded down.  (The locking mechanism is completely hidden by the folded down table.)  All I need to make it is the material for the table leg which I plan to buy tomorrow at Exotic Lumber in Annapolis.

Wednesday, June 19

This morning the teak trim around the table was not dry enough (it was still tacky) to sand and re-coat with the next layer of varnish.  I'm sure this was due to the very high humidity we have recently experienced.  In any event, I went on with my day without adding a coat of varnish prematurely.

At 9 AM I drove to Annapolis with my boat neighbor, Chuck, to get some wood at Exotic Lumber.   Exotic Lumber has always been one of my favorite places in Annapolis.  They have woods from all over the world.  I was looking for a 1" x 1" piece of teak for the leg for the drop down table I am building while Chuck was looking for some wood to practice making dovetail joints.  We both found what we needed.

Slabs of trees with live edges can be found at
Exotic Lumber for prices that range
upward of $1,000, sometimes
multiples of $1,000.

By the time we got back to the boat (about noon) my table's teak trim was dry and ready to be sanded and varnished.  (It took 18 hours to dry in the extremely humid environment.)

Third coat of varnish on
the table's teak trim.

There are no words of wisdom for me to end this blogpost--no, none at all.  I hope you stayed tuned to see the unique design I came up with for the attachment of the table leg...


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