OK. Let’s catch up my many thousands of readers with what’s happening with the pontoon project.
With the first coat of thinned-out spar varnish happily lapped up by the bare pristine marine plywood, I applied the required coat of marine wood primer.
I had to tape off the fence and helm. Would have been easier to do the painting without the fence, but I wanted to fish during June and somehow driving the boat around without the rail was very disconcerting. So I opted for the extra work of painting the deck in two stages.
I was finally able to put my roller into some blue paint and get started on the real color of the boat deck.
Yikes. I ended up with this splotchy mess. 🙁 Do I need to resort to carpeting? I added grit (actually pumice) to the paint to prevent it being slippery.
Here’s hoping subsequent coats don’t look like finger painting by a toddler.
It actually turned out pretty good. Hard to get a detailed look because of the sheen, and since it’s not perfect, you don’t really want a detailed look anyway. But, you know what? When I’m boating on Trego Lake? I don’t spend a lot of time looking at the boat deck.
I took a little break in here because of some strange weather — a lot of wind. It’s hard to paint with the boat moving around and also tons of rain, which wreaks havoc with 24-hour-dry-time marine paint. But finally I removed the fence again, parked the boat against the shallow, sandy shore and began painting the sides and back. Five full coats of stuff again.
Finally, with the entire deck painted, I was able to replace the fence and for the first time attach the front part with the gate.
I didn’t have enough of the teal for the front skin, so I improvised. Both sides of the fabric are exposed when the skin is finished and since I had nothing in my stash suitable to show both sides, I sewed together this patterned teal and an off-white.
I cut the patterned vinyl 1/2″ larger than the off-white, spray-glued them together, then top-stitched around the perimeter. This, I hope, will prevent moisture and mold from accumulating between the layers.
Because of its fragile state, and the fact that it takes octopus arms, I waited for Kent and Brenda to be here before I attempted putting on the bimini. I plan to buy a heartier bimini next year. The vinyl on the floor is not attached, so I can easily remove it and hose it off.
I still want to build some unique furniture, which is hard to describe and the helm needs a door on the driver’s side. That should have been done this past week, but it rained. A lot.
No project is ever completely done. That would spoil all the fun. But the boat is very comfortable for now and the motor always starts. Yay.