2nd February

Went fishing today and bashed my brains out in a choppy sea. Long SW swell with SE wind chop against current.  Got a bit of a sunburn and caught almost nothing.  All small and released to grow bigger.  Nice day on the sea though.

Fetched my stainless tube (316L) for the pullpit and pushpit on the way home as well as some tig welding rods.  Just got to  practice now to weld it. Long time since tig welding.  Pipe bender ready for testing.

Fortunately I have some scrap 25mm ss tube to practice on and a big bottle of argon.

Also glued and put fillets on galley bits so I can start painting.

Just got to let epoxy cure and give it a sand and can then start the epoxy, primer and PU paint process.  This is the last bit of interior construction work.  The rest is finishing work.  Going to measure up for upholstery and Mrs Nuts will get busy with ordering foam and fabric and fighting with her sewing machine.  She is pretty good at that.  Will be her 4th boat.

She is not afraid of a challenge.

 31st January

As windguru predicted it was a beautiful day today in the middle of the Atlantic so Nuts had the day off.  I went with my flask of coffee towards the south of the channel between Pico and Faial and dropped some bait 200m deep to see what would happen.  Well- waited about 5 seconds once the hooks reached the bottom (use about 800grams lead sinker) and started feeling bites. I use circle hooks so dont have to strike the fish and just chill and let them get on with it.  I pressed the go button on the electric reel and got 3 fish. (use 3 hooks).  It never stopped.

It almost seems unfair.  Most of my time fishing is spent waiting for the hooks to reach the bottom and the electric reel winding the fish up. Only a few seconds on the bottom.  Im not complaining though.  4 families eating fresh fish tonight.  I give most of my fish away.  We have a quota of fish per boat and person in the Azores and I make sure I do not go over.

The most beautiful fish. Only its mother would love it but tastes like lobster. Type of scorpion fish caught in deep water here which is highly prized - just dont get stabbed by the spines as they are poisonous. Also had a great show from dolphins (one even ate a mackerel I caught and threw to it)  Back to Nuts tomorrow.  Epoxy, sandpaper and primer again!!!  

Weather looks good for a few days so maybe do a bit more fishing Friday.

 30 th January

Only spent a short time in the workshop today.

Dumped a lot of ideas in the bin and just went with two shelves behind the cooker. Now the gluing and painting process starts again. Not in a hurry though as weather very nice at the moment so off to sea with fishing rod and flask of coffee.

 29 th January

If you like watching paint dry well here goes.

Lots of epoxy light primer going down.

Some PU topcoat going down inside aft buoyancy locker. I use up the bottom of the pot after painting other areas so I dont waste expensive paint.

Painted topcoat (2 coats) on the inside of where the locker box will be glued into position on the main bulkhead for the galley quick access locker.  The unpainted strips are where the glue and fillets will be and will be touched up when finished.

Cockpit floor and seats all painted on the underside plus galley box locker inside and outside. Everything has epoxy resin, 2coats primer and 2 coats polyurethane topcoat.  1 coat per day so many days with not much to see.  Also takes a few hours of running my heater while doing the sanding to get up to 18c which Im happy to paint in.  

Time to move away from painting and tackle the rest of the galley.  I keep changing my mind on how to arrange things but just have to settle on something.

 25th January

Nothing too exciting to report for the last days. Some sanding and epoxy priming and a bit of galley work.

Cockpit seats and floor plus forepeak shelf with second coat of primer on the underside. Seats and floor also have 200g of epoxy glass on the underside to make a sandwich for a bit more strength and stiffness.

A bit more of inside priming. Opening of galley locker in main bulkhead visible.  I have made a box that will be mounted on the fwd side which will be my quick access lkr for coffee, sugar etc. 

 21st January

Been doing many different jobs in the last days.  Some painting, some cutting of stainless steel and drilling and polishing.  Also spent time filtering old hydraulic oil from my tractor and mixing it with diesel for my heating system.  It has been warm the last days so have not been using the heater except when painting or doing epoxy work. 

Made and glued the small infill in the starboard bunk.  It can be removed for sleeping on the floor in rough weather.  The bunk cushions are the same width as the floor so will be able to move them around.

Now I can start finishing the galley before tackling the deck.

 17th  January

Turned three score and seven today so only 3 years left on my warranty. 

Glued in the bunk backrests and put fillets on the joins today.

Lockers and inside all painted and finished.  More storage than expected inside the lockers and on the shelf so very happy.  I guess enough space for many weeks of dehydrated food behind the backrests.

Hatch, locker and door covers all sanded and in the paint station for their other side treatment.  Silver pipe pumps mega hot air into my workshop from my cheapo diesel heater which I start on diesel and change over to a diesel and waste oil mix which runs hotter than pure diesel with no fumes or smoke but switch back to pure diesel for 15 minutes on full to shut down.  So far so good.