Lashing strakes and such

 

Survived what, that's the question? Certainly this t-shirt didn't survive. Someone-or-other sent it off to GIRO (Gabriola Island Recycling) and then it met its fate -- doomed to become an oily rag, and thus spend some considerable amount of time hanging on the garden fence in splendid isolation. (Spontaneous combustion. It's a real thing. Oily rags do not get to stay in the boat shop!)

The oiling in question was for the lashing strakes. They are rubbed with boiled linseed oil -- five coats of boiled linseed oil, applied hot with rags.

We found a most excellent way to keep the oil hot while we were working on the last hull -- a small rice cooker. It works really well, and holds the oil at a good temperature. No need to be overly-hasty, since the oils stays a constant temperature, and no need to worry about oil and open flame. (I would worry if we were heating it on the barbeque, and heating it in the house -- yuck.)

Oiled purpleheart looks amazing. Here are the lashing strakes and the pads that go under them awaiting installation.

Robbie added japan drier to the last couple of coats of oil to hasten the drying process. Who names these things? According to Wikipedia:

"Japan drier is a common lay term and generic product name for any oil drying agent that can be mixed with drying oils such as boiled linseed oil and alkyd resin paints to speed up "drying". The name refers to "japanning", a term for the use of drying oils as an imitation or substitution for urushiol based Japanese lacquer."

So there you go. Who said blogs aren't educational.

 

They're installed now. Here you can see the first one in the background. In the foreground you can see me getting the camera in position. (Glasses from Gabriola Optical!)

Not everyone seems as happy about the process as I am. Perhaps he does not appreciate having his view obscured by oily rags.

Raphael supervising.