Blank Canvas

Well, I am back at it. This was my first trip to the boat since May. I got down there mid-morning a started getting things done. I had set a couple of goals for myself for the day. Worked for about 5 hours.

1. Remove the remainder of the canvas deck.
2. Remove interior cockpit combing.
3. Remove another thousand staples.
4. Do a rough sanding of the deck.
5. Test paint and varnish removal to find what works.

I actually got all of those things done and was pretty happy with myself.

Removing the last of the canvas deck went pretty well. I had purchased a cheap plastic handled hunting knife back in May. The blade on it is very good for pulling the staples out one by one. Once you start you really can't stop until you have completed a side. Luckily the canvas was intact enough for me to use it to my benefit. I basically cut the canvas about 3 inches from the edge running down the length of the boat. Then pull a few staples out. I pull a little on the fabric then insert the knife behind the staple and twist while pulling the fabric outboard. The staples are a quarter inch apart so this is a process that gets repeated about a thousand times.

I got the outside edges of the boat staple and canvas free and then moved onto the task of removing the combing from the inside so that I could do more canvas /staple pulling. I thought to myself for a few minutes before tackling this part of the day. All of the fasteners I have pulled off of the boat have been brass. Brass is very soft stuff and can easily be stripped if not extremely careful. I had to drill out the dowel plugs before attempting to pull the screws. You have to be carefull not to go in to far otherwise you waste 10 minutes trying to dig or cut the screw out. There were 70 such plugs to drill. I only messed up one of these so kudos to me. After the combing is out you have to pull the rest of the canvas and staples. This is now done.

I took a short recess and had a couple of beers before firing up the sander. I just did a rough first pass sanding of the deck to remove any blemishes and crackled paint seepage. I could not feel any high/low spots in the entire deck, no cracking and no mold. Great!

I also tested out a couple of different sanding techniques and grades of paper. Seems that you need to use a minimum of 80 grit to get the varnish off of the interior bright work. I am trying to figure out the best method for removing it from tight areas. I do not want to use a chemical stripper of any kind because other people with Lightning's have had bad experiences with glued seems. I talked to a local boat chick on Sunday and she said that the heat gun should do the trick. I will try this out next time I am down there.

Yes, I bought a heat gun. There are about 10 layers of paint on the hull of the boat. I turned on the heat gun and within 5 minutes I had knocked off a square foot of paint straight down to the wood. I will probably buy another one and recruit a friend to help me remove all of the paint from the sides of the hull.

I know that there are some Wooden Lightning guys who read the blog so I have a question.

Which should I do first, flip and paint the hull, or put the canvas deck on?

I am thinking of sanding the sides of the boat and interior. Fit some deck hardware and cut holes where needed. Then apply Dr. Rot epoxy treatment, then primer. I would then put the canvas on and secure it. Then flip the boat and work on the bottom. Let me know if this is the wrong approach.