The Cockpit

The cockpit was an absolute mess, and in a way it still is. Whereas the deck was more or less a straight-forward job of patching and painting a relatively even surface, the cockpit has had so many repairs and sloppy paint jobs that the bilge has the aspect of a lunar surface. I’d sanded as much of the drips and runs as I could without becoming obsessive, and thought I’d gotten most of the paint chips too. How wrong I was.

            I started by bailing, as it had managed to collect the rainwater of several downpours, and I had to remove a lot of water before it was light enough to lift the bow up and wedge another tire under it so the remaining water could run to the stern and drain through the open bung-hole. All of this water was filthy with the debris I’d created sanding.

            Next came buckets of water to rinse out the remaining debris, followed by a thorough mopping-down with warm water, soap and bleach, and then even more rinsing. At this point I left it to dry in the sun, and came back later to begin the painting. I’d bought another can of Interlux, this one flat white, from the Yacht Shop on Joseph Howe in Halifax, and it took about one third of a can to paint the whole interior.

            I started in what would normally be the fo’c’sle, but I have no clue what to call it on a 15 foot boat. I could barely reach the whole way forward, and my back bumping against the stryofoam float caused a rain of foam bits and hidden filth to litter the little forward deck I was trying to paint. I swept it out before every stroke of the roller, but debris got caught in the paint.

            Debris also got caught in the paint along the bilge, and some managed to sneak out from a hidden place under the gunnels. It too got into the paint. Well-stuck paint that I’d feathered out after removing the peeling bits betrayed me by flaking off chips into the newly-laid paint. I picked-out what I could and the rest got rolled in. Most of it blended quite nicely, and I took some solace on reflecting that the dirt and chips could not twice fall from its hidden perches, so the second coat must necessarily go on better.

            Even with the imperfections, I have to say the over-all effect has brought her one step closer to looking like a new boat, at least from a distance.

Shiny when wet.