Fresh from Kyushu -- we got back yesterday -- I began today the hardest part of this boat refurbishment: stripping off the bottom paint.
There's a saying that most boats could always be two feet bigger -- but in this case I'm glad it isn't. In fact wish it was a bit smaller.
First I had to fix a light I tried to fix last week and wound up screwing up. The bow light needed the ground wire I pulled out put back in so that's where I started today.
With that finally fixed, I focused attention on the bowlight to ensure it was working for the Japanese Compulsory Inspection the boat is scheduled to receive on June 26. It was I'm going to have to check the light bulbs again to ensure that I have replacements on hand.
After getting the lights working, I started on the hard job of stripping the bottom paint. I had talked to the guy I had repair it a few weeks ago and he said that I could strip the paint down to what's called the gel coat. So that's what I did.
Here's the results of five hours of zipstrip on both sides of the keel and the starboard side of the boat.
Click on the images to get a closer view.
Lastly, got to remember to wear a long sleeve shirt and old pants. That zipstrip burns like Fire when it gets on your skin.
