Cabin Doors, CPES and Some Hatch Work

Work continues on the cabin doors while Winter continues to hammer us with snow and cold temperatures. I'd expected to at least see some days in the 50s at this point in March, but I'm still blasting the propane heater for every teardrop session. I was anxious to see the 50s so that I could apply the CPES (Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer) with the garage open for ventilation. As Winter overstays its welcome, I've had to just plow through.

I've finished sanding and cleaning up edges and lines on both cabin doors, and you see one above with a coat of CPES. I had the garage door (the human version) open to at least balance temperature with ventilation. It's nasty stuff, but the Spring temps refuse to show.

With both doors coated with CPES, I used the remainder of the batch and applied it to areas of the hatch door above. I don't want to waste CPES, it's a bit expensive. The outer left and right ribs and adjacent surfaces got the attention, as well as parts of the two ribs inside those. Once that dried, the hatch door went back onto the teardrop with a  few temporary screws so that I could trim the bottom edge.

This was my final major trimming of the hatch door. The bottom edge, on the right side of the photo above, needed some trimming to normalize the gap between the door and floor when closed. The belt sander was a slow, but successful tool here. A couple hours of grinding away with the sander in that position is good for your arms and shoulders, right?

The hatch door made its way once again to the bench for more sanding and finally a motherlode of CPES. (I've been referring to it at EPS in more recent posts, I'll go back and fix that). I really overdid it. It's still in the 40s outside, and I opened the human garage door for ventilation, but the scent was still overpowering. I ended up with a headache after applying the CPES to such a large surface area. I woke up at 3AM with the headache as strong as ever and had to open the bedroom windows to the freezing air to solve this. I told you this stuff is nasty. I won't be doing another large treatment until Spring weather arrives. It's frustrating, since it's taking its time. I've got plenty to do in the meantime!

-g

Teardrop Doors and Hatch Progress

I've finished the trimming of the 2nd side door (1/8" on the flat sides) since my last post. I also sanded the edges to take the any spare snaggers or hard edges off. Both doors still need surface sanding for aesthetics and a myriad of others things like aluminum trim, EPS and hinges. That's for later. I moved on to the hatch in the meantime.

I pulled up the old "hurricane hinge" and cleaned it up. Old silicone sealer, wood veneer and other scum had to be cleaned off. I also had to trim some of the aluminum on one side for a different fit on the current hatch. Weird, but I think this hatch is more "square". Good.

I shaved down some of the top hatch interface with a belt sander for an equal surface and straight lines, then dry fit the hatch door portion of the hurricane hinge.

Perfect. I applied EPS to that horizontal surface you see above, and waited a bit for it to dry. I said I wasn't going to do it in February, but I bit the bullet, set the propane heater on high and managed to get a temperature of 50 degrees in the garage. It doesn't seem to drop below 40 at night, so it's fine.

I added two beads of silicone caulk to both sides of the angle here for under the surface of the hinge. I then screwed it down with 3/4" screws. I added some clamps to... squish the "topside" of the hinge down and distribute the silicone throughout that interface. Whatever, this sounds silly right now that I think of it. The shit was in there, no need for squishing.

Hey, I also ordered a solution for the upper galley sliding doors. I found some hardwood tracks on Amazon (as opposed to plastic units I've used before). Link below:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DSZ3IW/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Once the tracks arrive, I'll build up the sliding doors with 1/4" birch that I have in stock.

Until next time,

Gus

Galley Trim and More Hatch Work

Ah Saturday, an actual real day off for most of us. I finished installing the hardware and mounted the galley doors.

I finished a few more sanding spots on the hatch and applied the ever-stinky EPS to the outside.

While I was working on the galley, I moved onto the last piece of trim that's been hanging out in the garage for a long time now. I had to do some trimming to the end of the piece below along with some trimming on the 2x2 spar that's at the top of the galley area.

Fits like a glove. I've got a coat of polyurethane drying on it now. Since I had a wet brush, I hit the spots in the cabin ceiling inside the cabinets. Minor oversight somewhere along the line. That's it for today, I think it's time to do an evening kayak paddle.

-g

Weatherproofing the Hull

Ok, it's not a boat, so it has no hull. What I was really doing last night was applying an epoxy sealer to the outside surfaces of the Teardrop. I use a product from a company by the name of Rot Doctor (www.rotdoctor.com/)  called CPES - Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer. Just one application provides noticeable protection. It's even tough to sand once dried. Also note that it is very thin and easy to work with.

The second photo shows a partially-sealed side. The darker wood has been treated. The fumes from this stuff are quite strong, so make sure you have ample ventilation!

The vent fan is arriving today, I'll post some pics of that later. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll be much more quiet than the prior unit.

-g