Saphire Blue

As is often the case August has been a donkey show of busy. Weddings, summer youth theatre, end of season paperwork, etc, etc. As a result my mad dash to finish the boat has had a few hurdles. Fret not though, I have been able to hammer out a few days. Last week I slathered on a coat of bilge paint in the rear as well as gel coating the floor and sealing the interior stern cap seam. Of course the imperfections in the floor are highlighted now but that is to be expected

Bilge area coated with heavy duty gas resistant paint.

Floor painted with white gel coat.

Also, I sealed and painted the new dash. I decided a while back not to try and fill all the old dash holes but to put a panel over it and cut new holes for the gauges and steering wheel. It'll be easier and a lot less messy

Soon to have a snazzy new speedometer and steering wheel poking through it.

Then today I sanded (and sanded, and sanded) the blue areas. smoothing out all the patched I have been making as I went along. After sanding I wiped it all down with acetone and taped off the aluminum trim. Once that was finished the long awaited first coat of new blue went on. It's considerably darker, but that's a good thing. To be honest, I have never cared much for how light the old blue was. That may be surprising to some, but after all it is a pastel. And I hate pastels.

First coat! It's patchy but the second coat will take care of that

Interior bow. This section is the hardest with all the tight areas and corners

Splash well. Here you can see the old blue as comparison. Plus a bottle of my own fuel.

Next week the engine is getting fixed so it's a dash to the end. The vinyl and piping is also in so I should be able to get the interior panels finished this week.

As always, more to come.