Jeff's Log ~ Thursday, January 17, 2008

Day two of Jeff’s varnish education is complete. Today I began learning about thinning the varnish so that the brush strokes flow out. I am beginning to be happy with the results. There is a marked improvement over what was there before, and I only have two thin coats of varnish on. My auto-body shop instructor in high school, a great man by the name of Karl Schmidt, always said “painting is the gravy of bodywork” and I have never forgotten those words. I really took some time sanding and carefully masking where others hadn’t, and thinned the varnish to a maple syrup consistency, and the results are not too bad, if I do say so myself. Another few coats and it will look like new.

I was a little worried because right after I finished cleaning my badger hair brush, it clouded up outside and began thundering. Thank God that the rain held off for about an hour and a half, so the varnish had set up by then. It was dark when it stopped raining, but I looked it over with a flashlight, and it looks ok.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll put another coat on it, and then the dingy and I are going to Chalong in a truck because the dink is filling with water from holes in the tube attaching flange. I’m going to have the dingy guys glue patches on, because they can get it dry, and properly glue it together. I have tried gluing patches on here, but they just don’t hold well enough because I can never really get it dry and salt free.

It will be nice to get off the boat too. I have not been ashore since Sunday, and the boat is beginning to feel quite small. I feel like there might be a fresh cinnamon roll and a hot cup of coffee in my future tomorrow morning! There is a real nice bakery and coffee shop across the street from the dingy shop.