It's hard to believe we've been back on DE for 5 weeks and for all our rust hunting efforts have only a very messy boat to show for our efforts. Oh we've got most of the topsides rust under control and to the point where we can soon begin to think about the topcoat (color coat). But still we've a ways to go with lots of little rust issues waiting to be addressed -- specifically under the caprail and where various fittings are through-bolted.

I just spent $120 on an order of plastic flat washers to install in various deck hardware as things get put back together. I'm attempting to separate dissimilar metals, and to keep metal washers from cutting into painted surfaces. Did you know that nylon (the most common plastic material for washers) actually absorbs moisture; making it not the very best choice for this task. I reviewed properties of more than a dozen non-metallic materials -- nylatron, UHMW, Delrin Acetal, polycarbonate, PTFE, PEEK, polypropylene. phenolic plastic, Kynar PVFD, PPS polyphenylene sulfide, Teflon and PVC. In the end, given different pros / cons, prices and sizes available, I ended up with mostly Delrin and PVC washers of 8 different sizes, to install in 16 different applications, total about 300 pieces. And that's not even getting into the aluminum hatches and the mast yet.

Just getting the right tools for grinding rust has been an education -- high speed right-angle grinders for big areas, Dremel tools for little hard-to-get-at places and then there's a kind of middle ground which is too much for the Dremel (I know this because we've burnt up several) and too small for the disc grinders. We've been looking into flexible shaft grinders -- Foredom -- and die grinders of various types and quality; from a Harbor Freight $40 special to a $700 Fein tool from Germany. One question to answer is whether to go to pneumatic (air) rather than electric tools, but these require really high volumes (much more than the air tool compressor we currently have on the boat and then space becomes a big issue, unless we're just going to store the compressor ashore when not being used for work on the boat). Sanding and shaping the epoxy primer and fairing/filler has led us through various sanding modalities and we've ended up acquiring two Fein Multimaster tools which we love! Too bad they wont do the rust removal also. I gave up some significant flesh from my right hand to one of the grinders last week -- OJT I guess.

Unfortunately for all this painful education, the clock is about run out on the time left to get things done here before heading back to Hong Kong and getting going on the next Diesel Duck, Pacific Crossing Adventure -- more about this at the end of the month.

Life stuff: little DJ is now 8 months old and moving about like nobody's business. We have him on board DE with us 3 days a week and he is a handful for Dorothy, me, Rusty and Rascal. This coming weekend Kate and Darrell make it official, Judge Raima Ballinger officiating. DJ was getting worried. Dorothy's mom (and mine) are both still kicking and tomorrow Dorothy will wake up another year older. I was thinking about this just this morning as I awoke expecting to see some old broad in bed with me, but Dorothy just got a birthday wish on her phone from Hong Kong, wishing her a "happy 46th", so apparently Ixnay on the "old broad" thing.

The Rs have decided it's time for their evening walk and I'm elected; time to bundle up and head out into the elements at Bodega Bay.