View from the top.

Comment by kim whitmyre on January 23, 2015 at 12:05am

Went up to lubricate the halyard sheaves using my new and improved mast climbing kit.  Ack: time to paint most everything I see here!

Comment by Arthur Little on January 23, 2015 at 3:11am

Kim, can you show us your mast climbing kit?

Comment by Andrés on January 23, 2015 at 8:18am

A good test for the main beam! :-)

Comment by kim whitmyre on January 23, 2015 at 11:13am

Yes, a few extra pounds after the holiday banquets! ;-) Here is a link to a good video of the kit and it's use:
http://l-36.com/mast_climbing_2.php I had all the same kit as Alan, with the exception of the small pulley used in the ascent, which I added. Alan is an inveterate mechanic, as the rest of his website shows.

Once I had the footloops (Petzl, in my case) and ascender use clear, it is very easy climbing. The Petzl Gri-Gri tool is fantastic for both holding you in position without effort, and for descending. A good practice session at a lower height to get it all sorted is highly recommended, particularly if you are new to this mountain climbing gear. In my photo section here, I have shots of my previous kit. I added the pulley and a simple bosun's chair after studying Alan's procedure. Oh, and a short length of climbing rope (mast and a half length will do) to keep the halyards from being abused by the aggressive teeth of the Petzl ascender.

Comment by kim whitmyre on January 23, 2015 at 11:23am

Mis-spelled Allen's name...

Comment by Roger on January 23, 2015 at 11:23pm

Hi Kim,

The never ending painting tasks - what sort of paint do you use?

Roger

Comment by kim whitmyre on January 24, 2015 at 9:37am

Roger, for anything above the waterline I use 100% acrylic latex house paint in various sheens.  A top quality porch and floor paint from Benjamin Moore, for example, has been on my forward beam since I glassed it several years ago. For the horizontal surfaces, ie, cockpit and decks, I have a few gallons of Kiwi Grip, which is used with a very coarse roller after applying with a brush to get a good non-skid surface. I have seen a similar product at Lowes, btw, for much less money: Kiwi Grip is costly! Wish I had seen the other product...I think it's from Rustoleum. It's marketed for home deck use, but looks like the same product: comes with the same coarse rollers, and applies the same way. The Kiwi Grip has been great on the cockpit surface: wears like iron, and covers the nasty checking of fir plywood that is sans fiberglass.

The latex is simple to repair: a little sanding, prime and paint. Primer really helps the top coat stick!

Comment by Andrés on January 24, 2015 at 2:23pm

Hi Kim.

I am thinking in using primer and acrylic latex house paint for all the boat (not underwater) for the same reasons as you. The problem is that in my country there is not Kiwi Grip or anything similar, so for the anti-skid I pretend to use using sand over the wet paint, and then another coat of paint. Do you think it may work well?

My boat is poliuretained  painted (from 2002), but the paint has cracked in many places and I had removed almost all of the non-skid old paint. It was hard work (I have learned how to do it by trial and error). The paint has cracked badly on the non-skid surfaces only, I suppose it was by a bad painting procedure.

Comment by kim whitmyre on January 24, 2015 at 2:37pm

Andrés, I haven't used sand, but many people have, so it works.  Before using sand, see if the paint shop has bags of non-skid additives.  It is mixed into paint being used for stair treads. It is much cheaper than the same product from Interlux, for example, and easier to sand off in the future than real sand.

Comment by Andrés on January 24, 2015 at 2:50pm

Thanks Kim! I didn't know that there are non-skid additives for stair treads, I will ask in the paint shops.

Comment