Building the QT Skiff rev 3b
February 9, 2013

When last we left this QT Skiff, we'd just done final assembly and sanding, in prep for paint. I had to leave on Saturday to be at a training put on by the Oregon State Marine Board, and when I left, it was still bare bones.

What a pleasant surprise to find her with her first coat of primer. Curt had done a great thing by coming in last Saturday and painting her. One coat does not a primered boat make, so we'd have to give her another. We are using KILZ primer, which is outstanding, but never believe the label - one coat does not seem to cover all stains and defects.

What with the prep for the Family Boat Build, we'd been creating a lot of sawdust in the Boathouse, so the first step was to dust this baby off. Bill and I set her up on edge and . . .

. . . blew out all the dust using the blower of our shop vac. If you are in need of a shop vac, I encourage you to consider one that can act as both a vacuum and a blower - the possibilities are endless. We got ours from Lowes, a a 16 gallon, 6.5 hp Shop-Vac and the motor detaches to be a leaf/yard blower. Serious business, there are times when it's best to suck things up and there are times when it's best to blow things out.

Bill's a big guy and has a general disdain for any of my safety equipment. It took a bit of convincing, but he finally agreed to wear a smock. I've had far too many articles of clothing destroyed by paint/glue. We got our tyvek smocks from Magid Glove and Safety - best price I could find..

Curt is smart enough to not flip a boat by himself, so he didn't do the bottom - we needed to take care of that. If you remember from last week, we'd tried to fill the screw holes with epoxy and sawdust, and anything you add needs to be sanded off. Gawd, I love 40 grit paper.

I love the Boathouse volunteers and I would pledge my life to them, but there is no way Bill was painted fast enough for this picture to blur - no way on heaven or earth. I think the camera is being extra kind.

What I like best about working with volunteers is that we all pitch in. When Bill's back started bothering him, Curt painted the rest of it. The focus is on the product, not the throughput. I try to schedule things so people are always busy - that's not the same as "getting things done fastest" or "getting it right the first time."

So there we are - the QT Skiff will be ready for topcoat next week. It takes a little over 1./2 gallon to paint a boat this size, and the man who will own this boat is not too particular about colors. We are going to use up out excess paint we have in storage. It'll be some form of pale, greenish tinge - not my choice, but what we have on hand, perfect for a work boat.