From sitting on deck to bang all that cotton in. Don’t worry, no pictures of said bottom below, just acres of seams…

So, turns out caulking a deck takes some time… A whole lot of time. Days, if not weeks of pounding caulking cotton into seams and topping with sikaflex (the dreaded sikaflex).  

How about you come and help. In return I can offer…

– the chance to pick up a new skill… To participate in a dying craft… Like dry stone walling with fewer stones and no walls.

– a suntan/sunburn in April (of the farmers tan variety unless you are willing to go sleeveless)

– an endless supply of sandwiches and tea. They only do hamandcheese/cheeseandpickle/eggandcress in Rye. There ain’t no hummous.

– an overly developed right shoulder from all that hammer action and a sore left thumb from where that hammer action doesn’t go to plan. In fact, sod it, I can offer a lifetime of back problems and osteopathy visits. Add to this tinnitus from the endless clanging sounds.

 
Jesting aside, the views are stunning and the whole thing is quite addictive…. “Just one more line before we go…” Come! Betty needs you! 

Positives: the sun is shining and we have started on another deck.

Negatives: I now REALLY hate the drive down to Rye and my caulking mallet is too blimmin heavy.

One of the slight amends to the boat is the steering gear. Previously this consisted of big greasy chains running the length of the boat and a very rusty rudder stock. The engine is now fine, the prop shaft, rudder and propellor are okay, it’s just the crucial joining up bits. So first job is to sort out the rudder stock. As I mentioned previously, bits were rusted, bits weren’t designed that well to keep the water outside the hull, and there needed to be somewhere for the hydraulics and the back up tiller arm to attach.

Step in Caninis. Ian designed a new way of linking the bits together and Caninis made a new rudder stock. It required a couple of trips to Brede to drop off and pick up. And I learnt the valuable lesson not to stock a tiller arm in a Figaro (there is no way it will fit, simply no way). This meant stopping off en route at Three Legs Brewery to taste beer so definitely not a chore.
Below is the new cap that fits over where the tiller arm will drop in.  

And the new rudder stock which fits through the back of the boat – rudder on the bottom, controlled either by the arm or the tiller attaching to the top.

  
Two new materials… New to me anyway. This disc of stuff that is made from rags soaked in glue and compressed together and is harder than nails. I forget what it’s called but it’s something like “tuff-it”. The second is a type of rope impregnated with graphite which makes it slippery like a snake and positively space age. It will go into the thing that holds the rudder to the boat – enough room for it to move but enough to hold it in place without friction. I wanted to put them together in a Marni-style necklace but this would leave me with a very grey neck. You have to suffer for fashun darlink!

I am not sure I have raved about the portlights enough…. They are amazing and even more so when we tested out how they would look when put in place… The main window bit goes on the inside meaning the bling on the outside is quite subtle. A series of brass studs rather than gleaming brass. They work pretty well with the Raven paint job.

A reminder below of how they looked before. Next up is to buy the zillion bolts to hold them in place and clean up the inside. Everything was so well made and secured when the bolt was built. Good as it means it is largely still in good nick. Bad as it means it eats materials like bolts… Not one at each corner but a full on heavyweight bolt every two inches.

You need a higher and mobile painting platform? There’s one in the van…. Literally.

  
The next stage in the process is to caulk the deck. Before any sealant, the seams need to be filled with caulking cotton. This is to block up the cracks before the sikaflex is laid on top. Being a natural material with some give, it allows the deck to expand and contract, adds some insulation, and narrows the gaps meaning you don’t have to pour tube after tube of sikaflex into the seam (or indeed straight through into the hull creating stalactites or stalagmites of black grunge!).

Timing is everything, the caulking cotton can’t be wet so the seams have to be raked and the wood dry. There isn’t a cats chance in hell that you can do the whole deck in one hour, so you have to start at the highest point and sikaflex as you go to seal the cotton. This means it is all tapes and primed before the cotton goes in and the weather has to be sunny. 

The process has been divined through a bit of experience, lots of reading and some trial and error. Truth be told, for every person you consult, you get at least three differtimes t opinions…. To prime, or not bother? Mask or rely on a steady hand? Pump the sikaflex in, or spread it down it down into the seam? While there are some basics rules, a lot of the finer points of technique seem to come down to how you work best.

    
The caulking cotton bit is less subject to debate. The cotton comes rolled as eight strands. These are looped back on themselves and pushed into the seam. Once you have around six inches, they are tapped with the caulking iron and hammer into place. Using a rocking motion with the iron and working up the seam. Finally the whole lot is pounded into place with a further v-shaped iron to check it is truly in place. If the seam is particularly deep or side, add more cotton. 

Pretty time consuming but, truth be told, not an unpleasant job if you have a knee cushion and a good podcast.

In the picture below, the cotton to the left has had its final hammering.

I have posted pictures of the new paint scheme from the bottom-up perspective. While great in showing off the colour, it isn’t how it will eventually be viewed. More important is that the colour looks good with the deck. Good news is that it looks pretty darn smart…   

    
 
Plan is to paint the hood over the doorway in the same shade.

Meanwhile more of the decklights are in on the poopdeck and looking fabulous.

It’s pretty motivating to look back and see how far Team Betty has come. The video below  show how she was when I took her on…

https://vimeo.com/76262020

And another bow shot to add to the collection!