Next Phase

I've had the good fortune to work my way through the task list faster than I had anticipated.  I've completed all of the "big" jobs that I've been able to do at this time.  The next major task will be the haul out of Pachuca probably in early August, during which time the boat yard personnel will antifoul the hull and install the "dynaplate" RF grounding shoe.  After that I will prepare for my visit to Kingston and Port Townsend.  This leaves the way open for 5 or 6 weeks of a painting and varnishing effort, which I like doing simply because it makes the interior of the boat look better.

This morning I started preliminary work on the port quarter berth section: removing a few fittings, cleaning the area, and surveying the scope of the job.  I won't be able to jump straight into the painting because I will take the opportunity to do remedial work, e.g. removal of fittings no longer required, filling in holes, replacing protruding screws.  For example, I found two sharp screws that penetrated the cabin from the outside.  They were screws used to fix part of the spray dodger and naughty Debbie had put in screws without checking to see if they had penetrated the skin of the boat.  I'll replace these with small thru-bolts as they should have been all along.  Also, I learned from Mark a couple of weeks ago that I can wire a non-Volvo key switch into the engine harness, replacing the terminator on the harness with a connection of the wires from the switch.  There is already a key switch on the electrical panel at the navigation station, and last week I found the key to it.  Using a multimeter I confirmed that it works OK and learned which of 3 of the 5 poles are involved.  (I'll wire the "on" and "acc" poles together.)  I'll do this wiring job while the area is so accessible.

I took great pleasure in stripping out the horrible mold culture medium fabric that covered the outboard side of the area, so tomorrow I'll begin the unpleasant and difficult work of removing the tacky glue with solvent.  Fortunately the job will not be nearly as big as the V-berth effort of last summer.  To that end I have purchased 4 liters of thinner and 10 pairs of disposable gloves.  I also finally took Bob's advice and purchased an electric fan to ventilate the somewhat confined spaces where I will be painting and varnishing.  I was willing to put up with the heat and discomfort but protecting my lungs was a different story, and that Dupont Imron paint is extremely potent stuff.  Bob even found a new shop not too far away that has fans on display.  I visited the shop and purchased a great little all metal fan for 280 pesos.  The shop is run by a very nice couple from the Basque region of Spain.

Work Area and New Fan.  (Brown Material is Dried Glue)

My plan is to paint and varnish both quarter berth areas and the section in between, but not the storage lockers because sticking the top half of myself into those confined areas to do the painting would be suicidal.  After that I will probably paint the forward sail lockers which are much more open, and will definitely paint the inside of the cupboard on the starboard side of the cabin.

... All this against a background of the La Paz summer heat.  I've been getting up at 5 AM and working on the boat until noon. After that I do an hour of computer work in front of the fan then head for the apartment for a cool shower, lunch, a nap, and of course the air conditioner.  I then return to the boat at about 5 PM.  Two days ago I returned to the boat to find the cabin temperature at 41.9 C, or 107 F.   Opening the hatches reduced those numbers to a tolerable 38.3 C, or about 101 F.   But there are advantages to this.  For one thing, paint, varnish, and epoxy dry very quickly.  I can lay down 2 coats of Imron just a few hours apart.