29 Dec 25:
We measured the little Bahamas DInghy today for a rubrail. We'd like to have the rail out of one piece vs a scarf, so by the tale of the tape we'll need a piece that is at least 10' 6 inches. We do have nice piece of clear fir that long, so the fir may have self selected itself. FWIW we are trending towards a soft species of wood that will have some bend, and a little give when bashing into yachts.
These cloth tape measures from Lufkin are fun. While they may not measure as exact as a metal tape, they do not snap back and cut us either. The Feet-Inches-Quarters marking is also easy to read.
It's a good time of year to check First Aid kits, swap out old Advil and Neosporin. This little kit is still good.
You can stop holding your breath now, we finally put varnish to brush to bench. The first coat gets flooded on and then we did a second pass for a "hot coat." The air temp is 60°F right now but due to drop, so the varnish will still be tacky tomorrow and we'll apply 1-2 more coats without sanding. This cypress is pretty grainy, so there is some filling to do, we will keep adding coats before a full cure takes place. We test the cure with a fingernail, if we can put a little dent in the varnish then we can apply another coat without sanding. Once the varnish finally cures, we'll have to lightly scuff between coats.
The rudder got varnish as well, we like the darker color.
The little bench with two coats.
We had HENNING outside and it rained, so we can see what the quarter knees might look like with varnish. We might need some stain to go a little darker and to match the gunwales, they are a lighter wood also.
And here is the celebratory moment, the bilge held water!
Log of HENNING.
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