frustrating day
15 March 2014 | Shelter Bay, Panama
Mark
Saturday morning, 15 March. Well, the blasters did, in fact, finish on Thursday. In fact, they were packed up and drinking cervesa with me by 2:30 - less than a full day's work (though I bet I get charged for two days). The hull looks good, not great. I asked them about removing all the little patches of red or black that they left and they said no they couldn't do that without endangering the gelcoat, but it was "no problemo" "pintura manana". Well, Coppercoat says any spot I cannot cover with my finger needs to be sanded off. Also the "tape to protect the waterline" turned out to be a joke. The blaster just shredded it. As a result, the guy was really careful to keep the nozzle pointed down and left just the tiniest line of paint rather than risk the gelocat. Again, sand by hand. I learned that this is a new machine to them and with more experience they can probably do a more complete job, but I guess I was the guinea pig. At least they didn't do any damage, and considering that they charge $900/day, finishing in 1 (or probably 2) days instead of the 9 or 5 predicted, saved a bunch. Even if it takes me 3 days to sand, we will still be on schedule and money to the good. Friday, I scraped and sanded off the waterline on one hull and part of the next while Deb did laundry. It went pretty well, but working overhead gets old fast. We were scheduled to take the shuttle in to Colon that afternoon to get supplies, so that was good. The "Chandlary" store here has been closed three days now "for inventory." What a pain. Oh well, they have a Glidden paint store, and Abernathy's, and a hardware store all at the "4 Altos". WHAT A JOKE! The Glidden store had nothing but paint. No rollers or pans, no drop cloths, no tape, NOTHING! Abernathy's was no better. They had a million fishing lures, but nothing for boats, not even epoxy or fairing compound. I did a bit better at the hardware store and actually got some sandpaper, tape, rollers, etc. But nowhere could I get plastic drop cloths or something similar. This is a problem as the freshly applied Coppercoat needs to be protected from rain for 48 hours. The only real way to do that is to tape plastic to the hull above it. I'm sure Novey's or DoIt Center will have something, but that means spending another half day. And now I'm stuck with the Chandlary store for any marine things - if they ever open again. Oh, and the Coppercoat itself is STILL in Customs. Of course, still no internet nor any idea of when or if. Friday was a fairly, topped off by a mediocre dinner at the marina restaurant. Today has got to be better.