ST21 'Skinnydip' build, and boating adventures, Noosa, Australia

[TomW1]

Good to hear from you! I thought about you last week when I saw it had been nearly two months since we had heard from you. You take care amd keep us up to date on your plans.

Tom

[Fuzz]

Really happy to hear from you! Sounds like another great adventure is upcoming
Little surprised to hear you needed to replace the cutless so soon. Are you running in some really gritty waters?

[glossieblack]

Thanks Lee, Jaysen, Tom and Fuzz.

Fuzz, you'll recall that twice in early sea trials of Skinnydip, transmission pressure plates were destroyed by excessive vibration. The cutlass bearing coped a flogging at the same time. When the vibration problem was resolved by changing the trannie, Skinnydip ran fine but with a worn cutlass bearing, now replaced.

Jaysen, I'm preparing Great Sandy for our annual winter cruise, this time to Lizard Island some 1000 nautical miles northward. About the same distance as Miami Florida to Newport Rhode Island by sea.

Lee, looking forward to catching up in Townsville or Hinchinbrook Channel.

[Jaysen]

That voyage sounds like the stuff of my dreams. Still waiting for the docs to clear me for any water fun. Not really supposed to be working on them but it’s as close as I can get for now. Looking forward to some vicarious sailing in the coming months!

Fair winds!

[glossieblack]

Thanks Jaysen, I hope the doc gives you the all clear for sailing some time soon.

I'm about to patch up dings in Great Sandy's deck and coach house. She's an all timber boat, so water ingress is the enemy. Where the protective paint and anti skid skin has been breached, I'll feather back the edges and apply 2-part barrier undercoat then 2-part top coat.

But first I need to get the decks and coach house sparkling clean. Great Sandy has been on her mooring buoy for some some four months now, and became covered in bird shit. I've got the worst of it off, but stubborn staining remains. Anybody have suggestions for removing bird shit stains from 2 pack linear polyurethane marine paint?

[cape man]

Chlorine.

[Jaysen]

Vinegar
Muriatic acid (very diluted)

Those have been my go to solutions of late. Mostly on gel but should work on paint. I’d test it someplace discrete.

[glossieblack]

Thanks cape man and Jaysen. I'm getting the best results using a lightly abrasive bathroom cleaning cream. Once completed, I'll need to wax and polish the gloss trim strips.

[glossieblack]

For the past seventeen years I've been sanding back to bare wood then applying six to eight coats of varnish on the timber trims on Great Sandy nearly every year.

No longer. After using timber oil on Feather Pram and being impressed by the protective results as well as the ease of application and refreshing, I'm going to gradually convert Great Sandy to oiled timber trims.

Today I sanded back then applied six coats of oil to Great Sandy's portside coach house windows. Perhaps not quite as Bristol bronze as varnishing for a week, but it looks good and is every bit as effective protecting the timber.

Can't wait to slip Great Sandy's mooring, hoist the sails and go cruising again.

[Jeff]

Nice GB!!! Jeff