The horror of epoxy, and "small" problems

We have started to install a lovely white ceramic sink in the head (bathroom for you shore-birds), and along with that more of the interior cladding. There is also a shower drain pump almost ready. We are working up to the great moment when our composting toilet will come to rest in the waiting space. In every case some "small"  impediment  arises  to prevent completing the job.

The sink came with a perfect 4" drain pipe, which alas is just an inch too short for this installation. The diameter is non-standard, and so is the material.Can't be glued, doesn't fit standard pipes. Therefore an exercise in creativity and out of the box thinking will be necessary to modify it.

The drain pump fouls a neighboring structure by 1/8": that too calls for slight modification of the angles of pipe. Have to remove the whole drain to get at it.

The fan ( composting toilet smells, for the exhausting of) fits beautifully into the housing John began and I blogged about on January 4th. Meanwhile, our son Chris confronted us with the unhealthiness of fiber glass fumes (liver toxic, as I should well know)  Daughter Liz, who is also a doctor, reinforced the message. Fiber glass work calls for outdoor ventilation.

Weather  not permitting,,  John created the second part  with epoxy. It turns out  epoxy is a much less satisfactory medium- not toxic, but very unforgiving to the sculptor. Eventually the whole thing came together literally-one half inserts into the other. It took twenty-seven days to complete what looks like a  very small bit of the refit!

I remember back in the days when we lived aboard the original "Black Pearl" , we painted the topsides with an epoxy paint. It was one of my very least favorite experiences of all time. Sticky, sticky, sticks to the fingers, sticks to the shirt, sticks the fingers to the shirt. It also stuck every passing small insect to the paint job, thus demonstrating why boatyards have these giant indoor places for professionally painting yachts. 

Boat yoga

We had a spell of cold weather, and were just not up to the job for a while. But the temperature has risen, so the workers are back in action. Everything seems to take five times longer than I imagine. It is wonderful meditation practice.

To-day we were fitting an eighty inch length of quarter inch plywood  against one wall of the head. It took five goes before the thing would fit, and every step of the way involves the kind of personal contortion not customary to people in their mid-sixties.

John has altered the floor of our main cabin. He has made a flat section, where we used to slide. For me, this is an unmitigated improvement. For John, not quite: because he is 6'2" where I am 5'3", he is now at risk of hitting his head. I think I will put a whimsical cushion on the ceiling ...it may look unusual, but I may prevent head injury! 

A little of this, a bit of that..

These new LED lights in the main salon WORK!

A lot of "small" jobs are underway: if we get the wiring done, we can finish the interior decorative cladding. The exhaust piping is lined up and tack welded, the parallel head exhaust is shaping up, wiring is ready for the new battery system (3 small batteries instead of the giant back-breaking truck battery). I am finding all the little places that never got insulated, and insulating them. There are bits lined up for the shower pump-out system, the refrigerator, and the sink in the head.

The interior will be much brighter interior than the original "Black Pearl", with  white cladding and light wood trim. I have made sofa cushions of brown leather, and mattresses of mixed quilted upholstery fabric.
There is a great photo of John hanging upside down in the bilge: I call it "boat yoga"! But it is a little dark, and anyway this one is a better illustration of the real joy of a good big project for enlivening  retirement years!   

After the holiday pause

To-day we went aboard for the first time in almost a month, and made a list of the things to do so that Jenny sees progress when she gets back from Rome in the middle of January. She and Esteban got engaged over the holiday, and his dad and sister came from Ecuador to celebrate with us. We had what my mother used to call "a whee of a time". And it does look like a lot that needs doing if we are going into the water at the end of March!

So here is to-day's creation- there is a wooden form (created on the lathe this afternoon) coated with a kind of wax that is intended to permit the fibreglass applied on top of the form to release after it hardens. It hasn't hardenned yet, and it is SO SMELLY. If it works, it will be a housing into which the fan required for our composting toilet will fit. If it hardens.
The other accomplishment of the day is a LIST of all the things there are to do! A long list.