5th & final coat

Well here she is, a rare "daylight" photo of the completed deck with 5 coats of Tung Oil to finish her off.

I am well pleased with the end result (not perfect, and nit pickers can nit pick, but I am happy :) , so who cares ?

Have got a little ahead of the instructions, the hull should be painted by now..... but that will have to wait till I am back from my holiday next week.

Anyway, have started to add some of the deck fittings, the mast steps and the brass deck-eye bolts . I realise they are not "scale " fittings, but, hey.....this IS a working sail boat ! So the fittings must be "fit for purpose".

I have also started to prepare the hatch splash covers.....these effectively seal the hulls innards from ingress of water... they only need slight trimming.... the forward one none at all, the centre one a little, the aft one needs more work.

As I have fitted the auxilliary motor in the aft well, I have decided that too, will require a hatch splash cover. This will involve gluing "spacers" so the rear hatch has something to rest on.. as can be seen in my photos.

The hatches & covers will need to be drilled as per the instructions, then put away until just before maiden voyage, when some silicone sealant will be required to be run around the deck openings, before screwing these in situ. ( more on that, when I get that far!)

This is the completed motor hatch splash cover, just needs drilling and putting aside till late in the build.

We are off on holiday shortly ,so the rest of the build is on hold........ Be back soon :)