Esper has changed colour! And the first non-white Formica is up in the galley too! We really are committed now and the project is moving along so quickly, all thanks to The E Team…
Esper in her new coat of primer
Week Seven Quick Summary Video
“If you have a problem – if no one else can help – and if you can find them – maybe you can hire: The E-Team.”
First Coat Of Primer
It’s taken a while but we’ve chosen Esper’s new colour and ordered the paint. The bad news is that we have another month to wait before it gets delivered. Not to worry, Esper’s topsides and deck are still a long way off from that stage so the painters have been cracking on with preparing the top sides. This Thursday, after much filling and faring, they have applied a coat of Jotamastic, which is a protective epoxy mastic barrier coat. This prevents moisture from getting to the gelcoat/epoxied layer underneath and acts as an anti-abrasive barrier coat.
First layer of Jotamastic being applied to a GRP hull
Kim and his longboard start to sand back the Jotamastic
Liz’s Office Table
Liz’s office is almost complete. Ton has painstakenly worked his way around the curved wall and new shelving units with the veneer, and this week he finished off Liz’s table. This is mounted to the wall and drops down when not in use. It swings up with a support underneath for when she’s repairing Jamie’s socks on the sewing machine.
Ton completing the construction of Liz’s table
Fibreglassing The Deck
After plugging the holes in the deck we wanted to keep, an epoxy filler was used to fill the rest. Microballoons were used to mix in with the epoxy, which help thicken up the glue. Once this had dried sheets of biaxial fibreglass were cut to size and then epoxied in place.
Biaxial fibreglass is cut to shape
The first layer of epoxied fibreglass dries. Biaxial, although strong, does not provide a smooth surface so the painters have their work cut out faring this all before painting!
Rudder Removal
One of the removal jobs we’d yet to attend to was the removal of the rudder. It proved quite difficult as we first had to remove the auto-steering arm from the rudder stock, and then the steering quadrant itself. After removing the three bolts from the bronze bracket at the bottom of the rudder it should have simply dropped down. It didn’t, of course, so we had to employ a couple of the yard workers to weld a temporary plate to the bracket to provide a surface to hammer down the rudder from its sleeve.
The rudder, with it’s temporary plate still in place but having been slipped down from the sleeve
Silver Formica!
Down below the lads crack on with the veneer, but in the galley Pong has begun the installation of the brushed metal effect Formica…
Pong cuts out one piece of Formica to fit into the galley
… whilst Mey continue to sand all the solid wood that remains.
Mey sanding the companionway
What Next?
It’s going to be another month before the undercoat arrives, and the painters have their work cut out for them filling and faring up on deck, so don’t expect to see too many aesthetic changes over the next few days. There’s loads more carpentry to do and we’re playing around with the Pacific Plus Windpilot too. We’ve had some discussions with our man about cushions, so at the very least he’ll be in taking measurements.
Share this Post
25 Comments on “Esper Refit 7 – the E Team; first coat of primer”
Every week that I read the updates and its becomes more of a mind boggling immense job that Jamie and Liz are undertaking, but it will be very worth while in the end….Keep up the great work
Cheers, Jay. It’s fun, stressful, knackering and satisfying all at the same time. Can’t wait to get back in the water though!
Great to see the “E” Team happy in their work. Keep smiling!
Thanks, Ma. Hope you’re enjoying the updates and that the technical stuff isn’t too boring for you!
It’s coming along fine eh? it I’ll bet you can’t wait to relaunch and get back out to sea though! How long do you estimate before it’s finished?
Not sure, Bob. I have to return to the UK in June, so I’d like to get Liz safely back to Langkawi before then, ideally.
Love it!!! Glad all going well! Xx
Very interesting , but it leaves me with three questions:
1. Are you confident the osmosis has been eliminated?
2. Why are you removing the rudder?
3. Is it not time to ditch that big heavy hydraulic self steering mechanism and free up some space?
Dad
Dear Pa, valid questions. Yes, we’re pretty confident we’ve eliminated the osmosis since we’ve taken the hull right back and there is no evidence of delamination. However we need to get the moisture-metre on it for sure. We have to remove the rudder to get to the cavity behind it as that too needs grinding. Also it gives us a chance to inspect and service it. Unfortunately we can’t lose the self-steering gear for insurance reasons, but I wouldn’t want to get rid of it anyway. The Pacific Plus is a marvelous piece of engineering and has already sailed many miles for us. I’m hoping she’ll do many more.
Thanks, Emma. Hope you’ll be coming out to spill wine on our new veneer as soon as xxx
Looking good. More importantly are you sure Sherlock Holmes isn’t real?
Excellent stuff. Reminds me of your beetle days.
Looking great guys!
Another brilliant video, we infringed copyright although all credit attributed and have a video barred from Germany!! Refit is coming along great. Why have you gone for not replacing the teak deck?
Genius at work! Hilarious. Seen the fist bit but rubbish wifi at rlyc means it keeps crapping out on me before the end. Nevertheless, fantastic work – video and boat. you’re really cracking on.
Genius at work! Hilarious. Seen the fist bit but rubbish wifi at rlyc means it keeps crapping out on me before the end. Nevertheless, fantastic work – video and boat. you’re really cracking on.
Welcome back, Fiona. Come and see the mess for yourself!
Ah jamie, you only want me for the gin I may bring. I know your game! 😉
Hats off to Mey. I manage about half an hour of sanding before I get bored, then Malc has to finish it off. Do you think she fancies a holiday here? Need my front door and porch doing?!!
Her rates are cheap, and our commission is quite reasonable too 😉
‘May’? Only ‘may’? I’m sorry, I think we’re busy that weekend end 🙂 Come over, Fiona, the water’s lovely… in a manner of speaking.
Very interesting and only got a bit shocking around 5 minutes in!
Great updates. So glad to see you are sweating it out doing a refit at the hottest time of the year. Bet the air conditioning feels good at the end of the day. Everything looks great and the E Team is doing an awesome job.
Have just discovered your site and i have to say it is fantastic, made for wonderful reading and viewing and i love the photography. Looks like Jamie and Liz are leading the ultimate lifestyle although i have no illusions that it is that easy. But keep up the fantastic work, i shall be a keen onlooker.
Kind words, Lenn. Great to know you enjoy the blog.