BeBop's In The News....

It's been a great weekend here at the BeBop project. I've had a visit from a popular superhero, Richard spotted the rare Sailorus Crusierous and snapped a photo, then BeBop made the news and finally got her bottom primed. This was going to be BeBop Gets A Facelift Part V but with all the stuff that's happened, I changed my mind. I had to go with something cooler.

Alright, getting serious now, I decided to take a 3 day weekend since the weather was supposed to be rainy and windy on Saturday. I was going to sand and prime on Sunday and Monday. Of course the weather report changed on Friday night and Saturday turned out to be the nicer day, so instead of working on Notes, Richard and I started to do the final sanding on the bottom of BeBop. It really was a nasty job. It's so tight to work under the keels and somewhere in the process Rich disappeared, but in return I got a comic book superhero assistant....none other than the Tick appears out of knowhere!!

I grabbed the camera as quickly as possible and grabbed this photo.....


Amazing how the word has spread about the BeBop Around The World project eh? Wow, even superhero's are showing up to help me succeed in my goal of sailing around the world.

After chatting with the Tick for a little while, it was time to repair the blisters that I had popped and sanded. To prep them so they won't come back in the affected areas I used Interlux Interprotect 2000E. It was a two part paint that forms a waterproof barrier over the exposed fiberglass. It was some strange stuff I have to admit. It took about 10 minutes to stir up the main compound really good because it was so thick. When mixed with the catalyst you let it sit for 20 minutes before you start to apply it. It had the consistency of warm honey and applied pretty thick. I put 2 thick coats on in the areas that need it. It dries very quickly and hard, like a thin cement.

You can just see some of the areas that it was apply too in this photo. This was the *good* side actually, the other side was much worse but it all came out good and I got great coverage with the stuff. I think it really will keep the blisters from coming back in the areas that it was applied to but only time will tell.


See I told you BeBop was in the news!! Ha! Haha!

Ah...Ahem, yeah I know....too literal. But it was funny.

It was hard getting back to work on Sunday after the Tick left, but I must carry on in his absence. Richard decided to come outside and help me tape up and prime the bottom today. We couldn't get started until about 11am because it rained overnight and into the early morning, but the weather radar called for it to dry up and just be mild and windy. Since it was just primer and the stuff dries in no time flat, we carried on with the plan right on schedule. The primer I used is Interlux Primocon and I have to say it seems to be good stuff. It has nice coverage and it only took about 3/4th's of a gallon to prime the bottom twice. Richard used the roller and I crawled underneath again with a brush and got all the areas where the roller couldn't.

After the 1st coat was on and drying, Richard spotted a extremely rare species these days...and getting rarer all the time...the Sailorus Crusierous. He grabbed the camera and just caught a photo of it in it's natural habitat and I wanted to share it with everyone.


Wow, just wow....there you have it folks...in the flesh, a real Sailorus Crusierous. They are almost extinct ya know, falling prey to the evil Yachticus Maximus Dollarous that prey on them. ^_^

Such a exciting weekend eh? Anyway I know your getting bored and just want to see the final result after the 2nd primer coat so here it is.


Cool huh? She really doesn't look like the same boat now. Overall I'm pretty pleased with my efforts. Another weekend or two and the green trim will be on with the registration numbers and her name of course. That will wrap up 90% of the major exterior refit of BeBop excluding stuff like adding on the stern ladder and much later the solar panels etc. Oh, I still have to put the cockpit locker back in and paint the cockpit a 2nd time too. But wait, you say the bottom isn't finished. Yeah I know, you can't put the anti-fouling paint on until the last 60 days before she goes in the water so she'll be grey on the bottom until this summer.

Don't worry I still have plenty to do before she goes back into the water....like redo the entire interior in the comming months plus paint the mast and hopefully finish Notes in the next couple of weeks. I'll have plenty to write about for a long time before I even move onboard and start my trip. Stick around and I'll share it all with you.

That's about it my 3.5 readers. (seems we might of picked up a third reader somewhere hehe) In spite of my high spirits I'm pretty beat up this weekend from crawling under BeBop for 2 days. I'm signing off for tonight folks...until next time Fair Winds....