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Florida flat-lander refitting an Alberg 30, hull #329, for an eventual circumnavigation of the globe and the journey of a lifetime before I get too old!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Playing with boogers! Part One

BOOGERS! If you are going to follow my blog, you have to have a strong stomach and the attention span of a terracotta Chinese warrior! My posts are few and sometimes they contain references to things that we all live with but never mention.

Last weekend was not the leap in productivity that I had suggested it would be. Friday was spent goofing off on the interwebs ordering expensive hardware and checking out other peoples boat restoration blogs. Saturday was my birthday. Sunday was a day spent in the shower washing off the shame and regret left over from Saturday. In other words, I took the weekend off from boat work!

Feeling totally guilty, I hit it hard beginning Monday by trying to clean the deadlight frames. Through some experimentation I found that relying solely on the Magic Goo to remove the silicone was not the way to go. Blindly spreading the goo on a frame makes a huge mess but it also does something else more insidious. Where the silicone is thin, the goo makes the silicone very hard to remove. Where the silicone is thick, the goo renders it so soft that it can be scraped with an epoxy stirrer. Very strange behavior.

So, after two frames of this, I resorted to "rolling" the thin silicone off with my thumbs and leaving the thick, tough silicone for the goo. Rolling industrial silicone boogers off of aluminum boat window frames on which they have been adhered for forty plus years is hard work. After repeating this procedure on the remaining six small frames, over the next few days, I can claim the toughest thumb calluses and strongest grip ever earned in such a short time! Cred goes out to "hot soapy water" and "3M pads"! Without them I could not have done it!

Check it out. Eight clean small frames!

















Now the BIG frames! I am ready. Bigger silicone boogers = bigger rewards!

If you read this far, I commend you. Hopefully you will not have to endure any more sophomoric blog posts until you read  "Playing with boogers! Part Two"!

This weekend: The deck repairs I promised myself last weekend.

2 comments:

  1. They look much improved! Good job. I think the stuff that is the dirtiest, most abused, bent, chipped or corroded nets the biggest rewards when you buff it all back to beautiful.

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    1. I have to agree with you. This whole process is a series of smallish epic battles with marine technology of the past!

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