First coat of varnish.

The first coat of Epifanes CV Varnish, thinned 50% has been applied. Some of the cedar really sucked the varnish!

I was impressed at how easy it was to get a nice even coat of the thinned varnish on.

The directions on the varnish said to thin it 50%. Now, is that 1 part varnish to 1 part thinner? Or is that 2 parts varnish to 1 part thinner? I'm not telling what I did, in case I did it wrong.

6 coats of varnish to go.

Also, I got the fuel tube in from Amazon. I am rebuilding a gas can for the boat - it's a nice metal gas can that has a gooey sludge buildup on the inside bottom. I've tried several things to clean the crap out of the tank, and so far nothing has worked 100%. I'm getting close.

Supplies arrived!

The orders arrived today from Jamestown Distributors. Thanks to Jamro and Nathan for doing such a fine job packing the orders - I have 3 weeks worth of newspapers to read and recycle! But seriously, the order arrived in great shape.

I'll be painting everything below the water line with Interlux Brightside "Fire Red". The above-the-water-line-sides will be painted with Brightside "Blue-Glo White". Essentially maintaining the existing color scheme.

The unpainted wood on the topside will be finished in Epifanes (is that 'eppie-fah-nay-z' or 'eppie-fae-ns'?)

CV clear varnish.

There is still a little bit of sanding left to do, but there is potential to have the first coat of varnish on by Saturday.

Outboard cart, motor Carrier, whatever you call it

Friday I took the 25hp Evinrude off of the boat. I thought I would store it clamped onto the heavy duty handtruck that I have... I was wrong, it does not fit.

I searched the internet and found several different carts specifically designed to handle an outboard motor, but the prices were pretty similar and one was available locally. I bought a Trac Outboard Cart from Bass Pro shops.

Assembly was very straightforward, in 100% English (rare, I know). It took a 10mm wrench, a Phillips screw driver and a 10mm socket on a driver handle, and about 15 minutes. I stole the pictures from somewhere on the interwebs because the Bass Pro picture is flash.

Here's the link to Bass Pro, 79.99.

Distractions from Boat restoration: 1963 VW Beetle

1963 VW Beetle. What fun.

Have you seen this logo?

I'm looking for a high quality copy of this data tag/ logo.

Nothing on Google... shocking, right!

Sanded like Hell!

Well folks, the title says it best. I sanded like hell all afternoon. The Cedar strips (the darker ones) are quite a bit softer than the fir strips, and so i may have gouged them in a few places.

The Varnish should arrive next Tuesday from Jamestown Distributors.

I'm not sure of the order of operations. Do I varnish, then tape off the varnished areas and paint, or do I paint, then varnish? I'll come up with a plan.

Also, I found a cut in the fiberglass covering the hull. It look like a quick hit with some sandpaper and a small patch of cloth and resin will fix it up nicely... but my last escapade with fiberglass didn't end so well.

What do you think about Deck Seaming? It appears this boat has never had the deck seamed- but why not? Would it look bad? I think it might add some character. I don't have to decide for a while - that comes much later, after 5 coats (or is it 7) of varnish.

Sanding has started.

I have started sanding the boat. I bought some 120 and 220 sanding discs for my 5" random orbital sander and after using the 120 to cut through the old varnish... I'm headed back to Home Depot to buy some 80.

The wood under the old varnish is pretty, and thick. Thick is good because I can sand out most of the scratches and gouges that come from 58 years of service.

I have decided that I really want a Fein Multimaster. These things are cool, but are they $300 cool? I don't know.