Finished

Today I finished the sanding, varnishing, and painting project.

I began the work on 7 September and worked at least 5 hours a day for 47 consecutive days with no days off.  Excluding time off for lunch and including trips for supplies a conservative estimate is that I worked an average of 6 hours per day, yielding a total of 282 hours.  I am into my 5th liter of varnish and 7th liter of Imron paint.  I've lost track of the number of disposable gloves, sheets of sandpaper, and paint brushes that I used.

I spent the bulk of this day putting up fittings and tidying up cabling.  In preparing for the painting I lost track of which holes were valid and which were redundant so I filled them all in.  That is just as well because it gave me freedom to make some improvements.  For example, I moved the V  berth port reading light 80 mm (3.2") toward the center of the bunk (which was as far as I could take it).  In the accompanying photo you'll see that the fan is now tucked into the corner and mounted on the bulkhead.  Previously it was mounted on the ceiling and I kept bumping my head against it.  The fan presents a good example of the remedial work that I've had to do throughout the project.   The screws fastening the fan to the wood base were about 6mm (1/4") too long, meaning that they had dug into the ceiling. I went to the trouble to find the proper size of screws.

Tomorrow I will set up the V berth with mattresses and bedding, which will see the forward part of the boat clean and ready.  I will then turn my attention to bringing order and cleanliness to the main cabin.  Everything in that area must be brushed and wiped of dust - "everything" means all cutlery, dishes, food packaging, books, etc.

I hope to begin transferring my possessions from the apartment to the boat on Monday.  That is the day in which my Telcel internet service expires and I am loath to pay another 500 pesos for another month.  So as of that day I must have my computer on Pachuca's navigation table and plugged in to the marina's internet service.