Aboard Astraea

Invest in experiences

April 18, 2012
by Nate

Painting is done!

Eric sanding for the next coat of paint

Eric sanding for the next coat of paint

I’ve had a lot of help from Eric of Coconutz with getting Astraea’s sharp new paint job done. There was lots of sanding to prepare the surface and lots of epoxy putty and acetone used to fill cracks and dents and clean up the paint. Here are the steps I used to complete the paint job:

  1. Remove caulk from the deck around the area to be painted
  2. Remove duct tape residue from the window edges using rags soaked in acetone
  3. Tape off areas around the edge where you don’t want to get any paint drips
  4. Find cracks and chips in the gel coat
  5. Grind the cracks and chips out on the edges
  6. Fill the cracks with epoxy and smooth with a putty knife
  7. Wait a day for the epoxy to harden
  8. Sand the epoxy fair
  9. Find more cracks and dents you missed the day before, fill with epoxy and smooth with a putty knife
  10. Wait a day for the epoxy to harden
  11. Sand the gelcoat with 100 grit sandpaper
  12. Sand again with 220 grit sandpaper
  13. Acetone wash the boat with rags 3 times to remove sanding dust
  14. Roll and brush on the first coat of epoxy primer
  15. Wait a day for the epoxy primer to dry
  16. Sand smooth with 220 grit sandpaper
  17. Acetone wash the boat with rags 3 times to remove sanding dust
  18. Not have enough extra epoxy primer for a 2nd coat so go to West Marine and buy Interlux Pre-Kote, the primer that’s specially made to work with the Interlux Brightside polyurethane
  19. Paint on the Pre-Kote
  20. Sand smooth with 220 grit sandpaper
  21. Acetone wash the boat with rags 3 times
  22. Roll and tip the first coat of Brightside
  23. Sand smooth with 330 grit sandpaper
  24. Roll and tip the second coat of Brightside
  25. Remove the blue painter’s tape

This painting project could have gone on and on for awhile –  sanding and painting and tipping to get a really beautiful and smooth surface – but this is a cruising boat, not a show boat (and it started raining, and we have more important things to do like install the windows and actually move aboard before the baby comes in less than two months!)

Painting is done

Painting is done

The project took longer than I expected, mainly because of the epoxy drying days and the days it took to remove all the caulk from the deck, but it was all well worth it. Astraea is looking much nicer now around the portlights with her new coat of paint. The projects continue on, even though we had visitors last weekend. My friend, Jeff, and Natalie’s friend, Emily, came to visit last weekend. It was great to hang out with friends, catch up and go sailing. More on that later.

Goodbye Heineken hat. You've been good to me

Goodbye Heineken hat. You've been good to me

In other, very important news, my Heineken hat has gone to meet its maker. I first bought the hat in Seoul, South Korea in 2008 when Natalie and I were vacationing there. We went with friends from her work at International Language School from Sasebo, Japan. It was a great trip getting to visit a new city, go shopping and eat real Korean BBQ. We bought my hat at a street market and even though my favorite beer isn’t Heineken, that the hat fit great. Unfortunately the cloth on the brim had worn away badly and was ratty looking so Natalie said it was time for a new hat. Goodbye old friend, we’ve had plenty of sailing adventures together. Now I need a new hat to take it’s place and it will probably be a Cheoy Lee hat we found on the boat.

What a pretty view, just minutes from industrial National City

April 8, 2012
by Nate

Another work week on Astraea

Another busy week full of projects! Monday we went to our second birthing class at Best Start Birth Center. We learned about the signs of labor and when to call the midwife. We practiced supportive coping movements and positions for labor. We were also introduced to some things to pack when it’s time to go to the birth center.

My editor (Natalie) told me that I need to write about topics and not chronologically because I jump around from topic to topic. Here I go.

Eric installing the powder coated dorade vent

Eric installing the powder coated dorade vent

The portlight project has progressed well. Natalie picked the finished portlights and dorade vents from El Dorado Sandblasting on Monday . The portlights looked beautiful and white, and the dorade vents had a shiny new red interior. The price was reasonable too, only $425 for sandblasting and powdercoating 25 pieces. There were a few places where the sandblasting had eaten away at the corroded aluminum of the portlights. There was some pitting and a couple small holes where the metal was completely gone. We used some white MarineTex epoxy putty to fill the holes, and they’ll be covered by gasket material they won’t be visible.

I’ve been doing a lot of work preparing the outside of the cabin for painting with help from Eric of Coconutz. We’ve been filling cracks with MarineTex epoxy putty and sanding it down. My friend, Erick (from my first ship USS Juneau), came over  to help roll primer on Saturday. It took about two hours, and we got the whole area around the portlights primed.

Now that the aluminum portlight frames are powder coated the original glass pieces won’t fit in. We went to San Diego Plastics and decided to have them make new acrylic panes for the portlights and windows in the navigation station and master stateroom.

Natalie working on the wood window trim pieces on the dock

Natalie working on the wood window trim pieces on the dock

We’ve also been working on the window trim pieces. They’re wood and the outside pieces have lots of varnish on them. We removed most of the varnish by using scrapers and sandpaper. It took Natalie and I four hours to remove all the varnish from the big window trim pieces sanding by hand.

Chuck, Erick and Natalie removing varnish from window trim pieces

Chuck, Erick and Natalie removing varnish from window trim pieces

We moved the operation off the dock on Saturday and up to the picnic tables so we didn’t get varnish shavings and sawdust on the recently painted primer. Jan and Chuck from Wind Watcher came by with their groceries and Chuck recommended we use an electric sander to save time. He came by to help and we had a team of four people working on the trim pieces. We finished the rest of the trim pieces for seven portlights in about four hours! It was like an assembly line – Chuck and Natalie were scraping, Erick was rough sanding and I was fine sanding and keeping track of the trim pieces. They’re separated by window so the old screw holes will line up. Thanks for the help guys! What a timesaver!

Natalie and Koku are ready for a walk

Natalie and Koku are ready for a walk

It hasn’t been all work, just mostly work. Natalie and I have been able to take Koku on a walks down the jetty to chase the tennis ball and burn off some extra energy.

Natalie cutting a quesadilla I grilled

Natalie cutting a quesadilla I grilled

From the galley: We have giant burrito tortillas and made quesadillas on the grill. All you have to do is fill the tortilla with cheese and anything else tasty. We used leftover chicken and pork tenderloin. Then fold over and wrap up with foil. Have the grill on low and lay the quesadilla flat. Wait two minutes then flip and cook for another two minutes. Let the hot cheese cool down a little bit and it’s dinner time!

What a pretty view, just minutes from industrial National City

What a pretty view, just minutes from industrial National City

Our marina is in National City, just outside of the industrial port areas. There are machine shops, car terminals and military contractors all within a mile of us. The only loud noises we get are from the trains coming in to load up the cars. It really is peaceful and pretty place considering everything that’s around us.