Paint removal

Just a brief update on how project boat is coming along - rather nicely in fact. I’ve managed to remove the majority of the paint from the outer hull and I’m hoping to have the remainder stripped tomorrow or Friday at the latest. As I’ve mentioned earlier this wooden boat restoration thingy ma jiggery type project is a new experience for me and is stretching the old grey matter a little so any tips, help or advice is always welcome.

For those of you interested in the process used in the removal of the remnants of the little lady’s outer garment I found (by some trail and error!) that the use of a hot air blower and a wide ish scraper has achieved the best results thus far. I did try the dreaded nitro mores, but I found that it would have taken copious amounts of the damn stuff to fully strip the hull and also the massive coughing fit achieved by sucking in the fumes did sway my opinion of the stuff to the negative. One important lesson learnt is, as with most bladed tools, to keep the lead edge of the scraper as sharp as is possible with frequent visits to the small grinding wheel and the oil stone, the only point to watch is that the angle of the scraper is not to severe so as to avoid digging into the marine ply beneath the layers (and I mean layers!) of paint.

This stage of the project has let me inspect the outer hull fully and to be honest no more damage has shown its ugly face apart from the starboard rubbing strip which has previously been repaired by somebody apparently lacking their opposing thumbs. I’ll probably replace both starboard and port strips, but I am looking for something other than the traditional wood for this job.

So there we have it project boat is plodding along at a steady rate of knots and I’m hoping to have her back on her keel by the weekend ready to start upon the removal of the varnish after my next block of shifts. Time for some of that sloe gin I do believe.....