Paintium, ad nauseum

My boat is almost finished! I'm painting it, which is nearly as time-consuming as building the boat itself. Sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint, ad nauseum, ad infinitum.

Building this model boat is one of the few smart things I've ever done. It has taught me skills -- not numchuk skills, but boatbuilding skills. It also enabled me to make mistakes on a small scale rather than on a grand scale like I usually do. Now, when I build the life-size nutshell pram, I'll know to paint it as I go along, rather than waiting until the end when it's a big pain in the patootie. It's difficult at the end because the seats are varnished, the interior planks are painted white, the interior bottom is beige, and the outside of the boat is painted white, except for the sheer plank which is green. Pop quiz again, in case you failed last time: What is a sheer plank?

The spars, the tiller, the daggerboard case cap and the daggerboard cap are all varnished. The varnish takes forever to dry, and you're supposed to sand and varnish several times, but at this point I think two coats of varnish are plenty. Is plenty?

Tune in next week for a photo of the saltiest little boat on Searles Way.