We have the technology . . .

(first published 28th May 2005)

There are now three coats of primer on the exterior, with rubbing down between, principally to get rid of the mini-dings that are all over the hull and which didn't show up until I painted it and then looked along the lines of the planks with the light in the right direction; so some I spotted in the morning and some in the afternoon - and each time I cursed! In each case it was a necessary to scrape off the paint in the area of the little ding, scratch up the surface of the gelcoat to ensure adhesion, level with polyester filler, sand it smooth, and repaint. So that's done now, t'ankeegod (cf Gerald Durrell), and it's taken three bloomin' days (cf Raymond Briggs).

The next job is the keel rubbing band. I started by epoxy-ing a thin (6mm) strip of red oak to the keel. I wasn't sure how to make the wood conform to the curve of the keel while it was glueing, but after much thought I arrived at this very high-tech solution. If you want to restore a dinghy like mine I can provide the major parts of this laminating kit very reasonably - say £10 per brick or slab?





Tomorrow I hope to be glueing a thicker (8mm) strip of oak to this initial strip given the time and decent weather. But it's a Bank Holiday on Monday, so I'd best get as much done before the rain as possible.