Betwixt

With the Ash beams meticulously in place, the decking in quartersawn Kiaat starts.  First the outer edge beam was fitted.  This defines the shape of the boat and it looks beautiful.  The curved pieces requires lots of shaped laminations which will give the deck stability.  The outer edge will be varnished, but the rest will be left untreated.  The beams which will be visible inside are being varnished.

Painting of the freshly sandblasted steel has been a process.  John and his assistant Maxwell would sandblast during the day.  This involved tons of black grit that covered the area in a film of black.  We hired a compressor and a sandblaster, and there were many trips to go buy more grit and more diesel.  At the end of each sandblast day, John and I would paint the clean steel with the first coat of epoxy paint, painting into the night with classic rock music playing and a glass of red wine.  Steel completely sandblasted and first coat of paint took 2 weeks.  Then additional coats of paint alternating white and grey, aiming for 6-8 coats of paint. While Maxwell continues to paint, John starts with the woodwork, because he can't help himself!  The deck beams are laminated into curves from American White Ash, each piece custom fit and bolted down with stainless steel bolts.  These bolts were bought in the UK and we brought it back in our luggage ...