Mid Week Sanding

Mid week sanding is kinda like a businessman's special at the ball park, except without the hot dog vendors.  The schedule lined up and I jumped at the opportunity, by the time I got outside I was working in the shade on the starboard side.  Something interesting I've noticed with the new Klingspor sandpaper is that it seems to last me about a half hour before it's torn up or I'm ready to get a fresh piece.  With sandpaper it's hard to know exactly when to freshen up, and certainly some of the paper has more life in it, but when you're sanding the same spot for a while, it's probably time.

Man It's Hot Out

As I mentioned before, I've been sanding the port side of the boat more than the starboard, because I usually get out there on Saturday mornings.  Last weekend I spent about an hour, and today another hour going at it, and I'm definitely making progress.  I would say I'm about 1/4 of the way through the bottom sanding, so another 15 hours or so should do the trick.  With temperatures over 100 F, this time of year can be tough to work for any long stretch of time, but things will be cooling down soon enough.

It's dead Jim

Well, no sanding recently, but on the bright side - at least I have a new sander coming my way.

It should be here over the next week or so, then after a little vacation it's back to work!

More sanding..

When you've got 31 feet of water line, that means there's a fair amount of bottom.  Sanding to prep for new bottom paint might normally be a quick job, but in this particular case there are, at the least, several coats of paint preexisting in various conditions.  Never the less, an hour here and there will eventually add up - witness the before and after pictures from this morning.
             

I also sanded along the chine at the bow, not pictured here.

The hardest part of any project is making the time, and returning to it consistently.  This is something I still struggle with, but without consistency the project takes even longer.

Another interesting thing about this stage of sanding is that it's a lot more comfortable to do in the shade, so I've been focusing on the port side of the boat.  I'm going to have to start sanding in the evenings (or rotate the boat!) to get the starboard side sanded.

Look what the cat dragged in!

By "cat" I mean UPS delivery chick, and by "dragged in", naturally I mean delivered:

200 sweet sweet sheets of sandpaper goodness!  I spent today fiddling with other things (motorcycles) but Father's day is going to start with a nice dose of sanding, before the temperature gets into triple digits.

Sandpaper: a precious resource?

Back in March or April, I knew there was a lot of sanding on the schedule.  The box store had limited grits and quantities, so I ordered a box of 80 and a box of 220 from a local power tool supply and repair shop.  I made the order before I started on the porch roof project, because I knew the grits required would overlap.  I got a call that part of the order was in a couple weeks later - the 220 grit.  That's the second step naturally, so I said "call me when the 80 grit is in!".  A few weeks later, I get another call, this time the order is in for sure.  I go back, there's one box.  It's the 220 grit still, no 80 grit to be found.  I muddle through the porch ceiling with some 60 grit (luckily I ended up using deck stain, so the finish wasn't required to be as nice).  I completed that, and last weekend I used up the last of the 60 grit sanding some of the tough spots on the hull.  So here I am out of sandpaper again!

Yesterday I placed an order with an online firm for the 80 grit sandpaper, with any luck it'll be here next week.  More sanding pictures to follow!

To Be Perfectly Fair

To be perfectly fair to myself, it hasn't been 3 months since I've done any work on the Connie.  I did finish sanding and staining the porch ceiling last weekend, and my number one priority this weekend is to sand more bottom.  We did go out of town for 10 days, and I did slow down with a cold for a few days, but we're quickly moving past that and onto new projects.  Or at least more sanding.

I recently joined the Chris Craft Antique Boat Club - they have a forum that I've been monitoring since the boat first arrived, gleaning knowledge slowly.  One cool advantage of reading about other projects / maintenance / use is that you can see others facing similar challenges and succeeding,  I find it very motivating to catch a glimpse of others in similar situations...