Day 207

At last the whole front half of the boat is primed!

Gena wore the sand blasting helmet to stop the fumes from getting in, and the fan was kicked in full. ( Enough that I could see red shooting up out of the forward hatch openings!

Meanwhile topsides, I cut, 45'd, and welded together the hatchlids. Luckily I seem to have a knack with welding stainless without making too much mess.

Having learned from mistakes while cutting the one aft hatch, I used a template made with the little mitre box for perfect alignment at 45 degrees.
It's a little like making picture frames. Accuracy is important. I'll take these into work and during slow moments grind them down and smooth off.

To the right is a photo of the forward most hatch with it's unusual curved front edge. I am looking forward to the challenge of doing that one! The cabin's leading edge isn't 45, it's 30!

Below can be seen the whole cabintop. If you look through the mess you can see the hatchlids in front of the pilothouse. It's not this messy all the time! Really!