Housing Plans

I've been doing a bit of research around on paint for my boat, including anti-fouling paint for the bottom.

Opinions, as in everything, abound. Even the question of whether you need anti-fouling paint for a trailer boat is much in doubt, by some. It seems to boil down to how long you're in the water. Of course where you boat has a good bit of effect also, since the various scummy critters vary depending on fresh/salt water, water temperature, lighting conditions, and who knows what else.

I wanted to list a few resources I've ran across. Don't know that I've made final decisions yet, although I have a few leanings.

• George Kirby, Jr. Paint Co. - a classic, old style, real world business that is known for great products and service
• Pettit Paints - currently they resell the Hydrocoat antifouling paint. For a multi-season ablative paint, this seems to be my choice. Multi-season means it can dry out on a trailer and still work when you go back in the water. Ablative means it wears away and "disappears" as it's used up. If there is paint left, its working. This keeps the scraping and sanding down when it's time to renew it. There are certainly competitors to this product, but many people have seemed to recommend it.
• WoodenBoat Forum discussion - there are lots more on the various boards, but there was a lot of good discussion in this thread, in my opinion. As I mentioned, like many boat related things, everybody has an opinion :-)
• California Paints Pool Paint - I toss this in just because it came up in some of the online discussion boards as a "wonder how that would work" item. Its apparently designed for underwater use...
• Latex Paint for Boats by Dave Carnell - This article is one of those "makes a lot of sense to me" things... read it and see what you think. By all means, leave a comment below!

Dear friends,

Let me tell you a story. 

Once upon a time (okay really, it was late March 2008), there was a blogging girl sitting in front of her computer writing a long-ish report.  It was a day like others in her Marrakech olive grove.  The skies were blue, the birds were chirping and, sigh, the landscaper still hadn't shown up.   It was then that she received a message from a woman with an impressive sounding name, a certain Ingrid Abramovitch. The email went something like this:  Hello Maryam.  I read your blog, and I quite like it. I am a senior editor at Artisan Books and former long-time editor of House & Garden. Might you be interested in doing a book?

The girl looked around the room but there was no one else there named Maryam.  It seemed - amazingly - that the message was for her....

The weeks that followed were filled with book proposal scribblings and advice from angels. Literary agents stepped forward to represent her, and the girl finally signed Kneerim and Williams, which also represented all kinds of prize-winning authors.  (Gulp.  Please don't tell these Kneerim and Williams people that her vocabulary was limited to mostly two and three syllable words.) It felt very grownup to have a literary agent, and even more grownup to have two:  the witty and savvy Jill Kneerim and the darling and smart Cara Krenn.

The book proposal was received and liked, and one fine day, the book deal was done.  The girl felt so lucky to be working with Artisan Books, which publishes only ten books a year, including the heart-stopping Flower, the gorgeous Fandango, the delicious French Laundry Cookbook and one of her favorites, Vicente Wolfe's fabulous Learning to See: Bringing the World Around You into Your Home.  (Oh dear, she had already begun suffering from an inferiority complex...)

As for the blogging girl's book-to-be -- part memoir and part Moroccan design treatise -- she would do her very best to make sure it was accessible (i.e. no hoity-toity-ness) and packed with plenty of inspiration. The book would not be a reprint of what was in this blog. Oh, no, no, no.  It would go in a different (and super fun) direction and be filled with many special, beauty-saturated surprises....

The book would be all shiny and ready in 2009.  Between now and then, the blogging girl would be rolling up her sleeves and getting to work.  But you would still see her on this blog as always:)

Today's pinch-me-but-it's-true tale will end with flowers -  roses picked from the garden and offered with thanks from me to you.  Thank you for your friendship and support on this little blog  -- you are  my inspiration for this book-to-be. Many thanks also are due to Artisan's lovely Ingrid Abramovitch and Ann Bramson for showing me that the universe is an enchanted place where magical things can happen - and do - each and every day. 

With love and gratitude,

Maryam in Marrakech

Besides providing your home with a charming look, landscape lighting has many extra benefits as well. Landscape lighting helps to prevent mishaps or falls around the home at night and this type of lighting also helps to deter burglars and thieves.

Was fixing to go out this afternoon and have several hours on the boat... then the monsoon hit for a while. We need the rain badly, but...

Anyway, it calmed down after a while and Dane and I went out and did some skimming/smoothing on the bow where it's pretty rough and pocked. The various boards didn't lay down as nicely as you could want, so there were still some gaps and unevenness that I tried to smooth out.

Then we did a bit more filleting and taping on some of the sheer clamps on the inside where I wanted to reinforce things. That seemed to go well and I ran out of steam in the hot, humid air about the time I ran out of epoxy.

More should arrive on Tuesday (large batch for the sheathing efforts). I have things scheduled for us to sheath the hull next Friday (I'm off for the holiday). Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Money = $2.92 (putty knives/skim tool) + .20 (tax) = $3.12

Time = 1.5 hours

The Black Knight Rechargeable Flashlight is a set of flashlight products that are made by Pelican Products. These flashlights are made to stand up to rough handling and in bad weather. Also, they can be used underwater and in very hot or very cold weather conditions, and are they virtually indestructible. The tough body of the flashlight has thermo-plastic rubber grips to give you the utmost support.

She was in Manama having a meeting in a Persian restaurant.  It was 121 degrees outside, and the restaurant's air conditioning felt illicit and luxurious.  They settled into one of those booths found in the Gulf that have curtains for privacy.   The man she was interviewing had been arrested when he was 18 and had spent 17 years in prison.  For nine of those years, he didn’t have a fan. 

The dishes came out one after the other, and the tastes brought back sudden rushes from her childhood… the maast-o khiar, the kebab soltani, the saffron rice.  Afterward, they were served tea that was sweet and strong, and its scent filled the curtained booth.  But it was the tea glasses that caught her attention.  They were sorbet colored, decorated with great flourishes of gold painted by hand, and stylized images of Shah Abbas.  She remembered having tea in those same glasses in Iran so many years ago.   Seeing her interest, her dinner companion leaned forward and said, If you like those glasses, you can buy them in the Irani Baazar.  It’s not so far from here.  She looked up at him and said, I think I will.

It was noon, and the sun was unrelenting.  It was her last day in Manama.    Please, she said to her driver, I want to go to the Irani Bazaar.  He looked at her warily -- the Irani Bazaar was outdoors.  But he drove on, obliging.  Once they arrived, they went from store to store.  Finally, they found them.  The glasses.   I would like the violet ones, she said in her broken Farsi.  Please, I'lll take the pink ones, too, and those little blue ones.  And the pink sugar holder.  And the glass stirrers.  She didn’t even bother to bargain. 

She hand carried the parcel on the flight to Dubai, through transit, on the flight to Casablanca, and by car to Marrakech. 

What’s in the box?  her husband asked.  Let me show you, she said....

 

We built lazy susan shelves into the pantry storage closet.

Courtney & Tara are building a Willow Bay "Shilling" - a 17 foot (length-on-deck) wooden day-sailer. This blog will document construction details and progress, from ordering study plans to launch day and beyond.

The Shilling is a Phil Swift designed small day-sailer. These guys are doing a nice job documenting their build. Lots of things to learn here.

Polyester, Vinylester and Epoxy All Have Their Uses. Learn to Match the Polymer to the Job.

Mad Mariner™ had an article today on Understanding Marine Resin. Nice write-up comparing the various polymers, with information on their pros and cons and when you might want to use which product.

Kind of a fitting article given my purchase today :-)

A trial subscription to the site is available which gives you full access to try it out, or you can purchase a yearly subscription for a modest fee.

For full disclosure, I write some paid articles for Mad Mariner™.

To go with that roll of cloth, I know I'm going to need some more epoxy to wet it out with. Did a fair amount of research over the last couple of days trying to get some idea of about how much epoxy this was going to take.

The designer wasn't sure on his use (it's been a while), but he and others commented that it takes "a lot" of epoxy to wet out xynole. Found a few approximate figures, but still wasn't comfortable estimating.

Larry at Raka, Inc. came through again. A quick email (had meant to ask when I ordered and forgot it) and promptly replied.

The xynole will take 1 mixed gal. of epoxy for every 100 sq.
feet on a hard surface. If putting on over plywood, you have to allow
the first coat of the fir plywood at 1 gal to 150 sq. feet in addition
to what the xynole will take.

Yet another example of good customer service.

I ordered 6+ gallons (5 gallons resin and 1.6 gallons of hardner) from U.S. Composites, along with some talc for mixing with epoxy for fairing, and some stir sticks. That should show up in a few days and then we'll be aiming to put this stuff on the hull.

I expect to have it ready for it all over this weekend.

Lastly spent a while today researching paint and anti-fouling. Don't know for sure which way I'm going with this... more later.