11/18/17

11/18/17

A quick update – the deck on the port side is “done”.  Done is in quotation marks because the new grooves are sealed with caulk.  We still have to sand the excess caulk off but that must cure for a week before sanding.  We’ll have to work on that in Florida.  But that means the project is pretty much done!

The rest of the deck on port is caulked.

Even after washing my hands the caulk remains.  I call it "deckhand".

 And it’s getting cold here in North Carolina!  Another night in the 30s tonight.  Donna and Jerry loaned us an electric cube heater to take the chill off.  How lucky we are to have friends who have made this project possible.  We realize that our solar power nor our inverter would  be able to keep up with the electrical demands of the router, sander, and vacuum all day.  This week we worked like mad to finish.  As they work on their projects Donna and Jerry would announce “lunch time” or “come on up for dinner” just as I went below to figure out what we would eat after a long day working.  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  We are looking forward to spending more time with them when we’re not working on a huge project as we both head to the Bahamas this winter.

Our plans are to head to Beaufort on Sunday and then south.  We’ll see how far we make it with decent wind.  Decent means most any wind direction with no south in it.  You should be able to keep track on of us with the SPOT (link on top right hand corner of persephonesail.blogspot.com page.)  It looks like we'll have to do some "hops" in and out along the coast to avoid those southerly winds.

I was able to put 6 coats of varnish on the table before we had to put it together and in place.

Persephone and Bluejacket at the dock  - making preparations to leave.

And on the few days it rained we found other things to do.  One was retrieving a free golf cart for cousins Dick and Georgette.  It took a bit of work to get it back into shape but now Dick has wheels to drive around the golf course (bordering their back yard) and the neighborhood.

Dick and Georgette in Dick's new wheels.

The spot for the golf clubs in the back of the cart.

 Keep us posted as to what's happening with you and your family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Karen & Jerry

Teak Deck Work

Freshly sanded teak deck covered in dew.

Jerry and I have been hard at work on Persephone's teak decks.  The teak wears down over time, the black caulk between the teak strips comes loose and needs replacing.  There are many steps required in order to replace the caulk.  Every step involves vacuuming before, during and after to keep the sanding dust down.
1.  Sand the wood to make it smooth.
2.  Razor blade the sides of each groove of caulk and use a sharp reef hook to pull out all of the old caulk.
3.  Place a guide Jerry designed along an old groove, screw it in to hold the guide in place, router the groove resulting in a deeper (and a little wider) groove to put new caulk in.
4.  Thoroughly clean and sand out (with Jerry's sanding block he made) each new groove.
5.  Apply a strip of tape along the bottom of the groove.   The tape ensures the caulk does not stick to the bottom of the groove - only the sides.
6.  Fill each new groove with caulk.
7.  Using a flexible putty knife smooth out the bead of caulk along the groove.
8.  After the caulk cures lots more sanding required to take away the black caulk on the wood.
Every step of this process is done from the knees and bending over.  It is back breaking and tedious.
We are halfway done!!

Bob uses the orbital sander to smooth the teak.

Bob uses the reef hook to clean all of the old caulk from the grooves.

Bob using Jerry's handmade groove sander.

The weather has been perfect for working on the decks!

Jerry using his guide and modified router base to router each groove deeper for caulk.

The aft section with the grooves filled with caulk.  Waiting to sand when cured.

Sanding the excess caulk from the teak.

Starboard side done!

Ron, Jerry, and Jerry having fun with shovels.

I have 5 coats of varnish on our teak table so far.  Thanks to Donna and Jerry who make all of this work possible!