R Johnson

It is an awesome river to cruise. Sounds like a great trip.!

Ted, Very nice to hear from you. And the modifications remind me that there is always new life in an old boat. I'm pleased to see you are keeping Avocet so nicely up to date. You have done many of the things I was thinking about. It would be nice to get the two boats together. I'm very pleased that you seem to be enjoying Avocet. That is most important. Nice to hear from you and please take care.

They pulled out nicely and the holes are marked. I will re-drill to clear out the holes ( 1/8") and put new stirs in the holes before final painting. The boat is being primed.

I wanted to layout deck hardware before priming and painting. That way I could dress the holes and if I made a mistake, I would make a mistake in an unfinished deck, therefore potentially less work. The trick was to mark the holes. I used coffee stirs.

Thank you. Yes I hope so. Nothing else to glue on. Next just smoothing it out and priming.

Thank you. Me too. I agree about the 80/80, in fact I'm not sure there ever really is a finish, but continual improvement. On to the next part.

It is barrier coated which is kind of redundant. The good news is that after the bailers are installed and few other items get taken care of then it will be ready to flip next Tuesday. Then install the hatch, and tabernacles. I will then install all the rigging hardware, then remove it, then properly dress the holes. Then prime the boat for final painting. The bad news is that although the white looks wonderful, it does make some flaws evident, ie slight undulations in the chine up forward where it keys in. I thought I had it properly planed and sanded but even with excellent light I could not see it. It will be OK the water won't mind.

Last coat of epoxy over glass. Let is set for a week before barrier coat.

That is incredible! It looks really good.

Would it make sense to raise the board slightly when trying to heave to? It would move the center of effort back and I would think allow the boat to point slightly off the wind, and then drift slightly sideways? I think I remember that the boat would settle side ways to the wind if both sheets were released.