Exterior
We had a number of setbacks during the summer of 2008. We had set a launch date for the Autumn and were intending to be in the Carribean by Christmas. In the end we put the launch back to the next Spring as there was little point in having her in the water for an Irish winter. Some of the problems (in no particular order):
Windows. Our windows are lexan, set with adhesive into rebates made in the saloon sides and above sheer panels. We had calculated for expansion/contraction in the lexan right from the beginning with appropriate mullions in the saloon. The first mistake was the lexan was too thin, while the 5mm sheets were calculated as strong enough they were too flexible after fitting the first one we had to dump the lot and replace with 10mm. Mistake number two was we used the wrong adhesive and all the windows had to be taken out, cleaned up and stuck back in again with the correct adhesive. Problem number three was that while this was all happening the boat was no longer in the polytunnel and we had some problems with the Irish weather. Our fourth problem with the windows is how to stick on the micro-film that we have to reflect the sunlight, this one we are still working on.
Anti-slip. Sackville had found some lightweight anti-slip decking from a company called Decko-dot. Having tested it on the house steps for a couple of years it proved durable and looked fine. The problem was how to stick it to boat and after much discussion we went with the glue the manufacturers recommended. After shipping 5 tins from USA this proved totally useless and we switched to a two-part contact adhesive (very expensive). It did the job but was difficult to apply and get a good finish. An anti-slip paint or perhaps taking an anti-slip surface off the vacuum table would probably have been a better option.
Stainless. We had quite a lot of custom steel work to get done and our first contractor proved something of a disaster. Some items were over specified, others under built, and everything over budget. In the end we found someone else to work with who is doing a much better job.
