A watched boat is like paint drying

Well we can only dream of the day when we get to Copper coat, the hull of Seascape although expertly blasted and in fairly good nick for a boat of her type and age is still rather too damp for epoxy! So the plan has been to cloak her hull in polythene, to put on heat lamps and dehumidifier and sweat out the water moisture from the outside and the inside.

Seascape tented up

This has involved also marking up the moisture readings on the hulk and measuring them periodically to see if the moisture levels are dropping. So far this has taken a month and although the heat has resulted in buckets of dehumidifier water, the structural beams (floors) are still damp despite drying out the lockers and the keel bilges with nappies. We have also ground out some earlier repairs which were very wet. Top tip - do not be tempted to slap in car filler on a boat unless you want a soggy bottom! So far the worst readings are off the scale at 20plus, the lowest at 10-12 and for coppercoat we need less than 12-14 so we got to cook her some more! Time though is not on our side and although located in the shed at great cost , we have had to move her in and out a few times to make way for other projects which has not helped the condition of the tenting. Oh and it's hot working inside with the heating on and humidity so it does make life a tad uncomfortable too Let's hope we dry out soon