Alaska...working on Precipice

Precipice

A very large chunk of my time spent in Nome Alaska was working on Precipice with Rolland, Jannelle and Bianca.  Since they had gone through the North West Passage through Northern Canada there was a lot of damage done to the hull from ice.  Precipice didn't get much attention this winter since it was too cold to do certain repairs. So on the days the weather allowed we painted and focused on getting the hull done so Precipice could go in the water.

Rolland and Jannelle.

Bianca

Both Bianca and Jannelle have grown since the last time I have seen them.  In fact, Jannelle is now taller than me and is very strong. Rolland no longer asks me or Deb to lift heavy things with him on the boat...Jannelle inherited that job.  Jannelle has also started checking the oil and refilling the gas on the generator.  Sanding the boom and gaff has become Bianca's project.  Sanding and varnishing, over and over again can get boring but Bianca has tackled the job and is getting good at it.  

Layer number one

  Before I got there Rolland had already started  to fill in and sand down the spots that needed attention.  We finished that up then and realized that the water line area was sort of "sanded off."   So we used what little areas were left un-sanded and Rolland sort of guessed/eyeballed some measurements and taped it in.  We then started painting layer 1 of 2.  I rolled it on with the roller with Rolland following close behind to brushed out the bubbles which gave the hull a nice reflective glossy look.  (This is called "roll and tip")  

Layer 1

Layer 2 of top and layer 1 on bottom

There were already 5 layers of bottom paint.    So we touched up the damaged areas and hit the important spots near the waterline.  It all ends up the same color after reacting with water.

Rolland then carefully painted the water line with no tape.  My job was to stand nearby with a rag and paint thinner for any drips or red escaping on to green from a non-compliant paintbrush bristle.

If I had a picture of what Precipice looked like before we started paint and compared it to this one (below), you would be amazed at how a few fresh layers of paint can really kick it up to something classy.  Everything in Nome is a little shabby and grey.  All of the boats in Nome are aluminum fishing boats that don't have a lot color.  It was good to see our hard work turn into something beautiful.

The Final Product.