Logbook Entry
Date: 4/2/10
Location: Marmaris, Turkey
Refinishing the mainsail boom was another refit project we tackled on Gyatso while wintering-over in Marmaris, Turkey. As far as we can tell, the painted aluminum boom had not been touched for 25 years. As a result, it was becoming badly corroded in places. We received a quote for the job that was beyond our budget, so David stepped up and took on the task himself. It took two weeks working part-time to complete. He used an article from Good Old Boat magazine as a guide.
Some of the steps included:
- removed all the rigging and hardware by drilling out the pop rivets or sawing off seized bolts
- sanded off the original white paint with a random orbital sander
- etched the aluminum with an acid wash in preparation for priming
- primed the boom with a two-part primer
- painted the boom using a brush and white polyurethane paint
- re-installed the hardware and rigging lines
Although David did not feel that the paint job was as good as if it had been done professionally, he commented, “At least the boom is no longer a mystery to me — now I can maintain it myself.”
