I ran accross Nick Jaffe a while back… he’s solo sailing his way back to Australia aboard his 26′ Contessa. He’s got some excellent and funny videos describing so well what life is REALLY like crossing an ocean. I like his style, he and I are in the same field – he’s also a web designer kind of guy, he’s out there doing it, writes well and has been working on this very cool project called Bluemapia.

He’s worked out a sponsorship deal with Bluemapia which will help him finish his voyage, and is looking for some help from fellow sailors. For every person who signs up at Bluemapia and contributes some content and information to this very cool site, he will get some cash. Both causes are worthy in their own right, so kill two birds with one stone…

Go Read More About It, And Sign Up At Bluemapia Via The Link On His Site

After much debate, research, partial understanding, turned to confusion, doubt and debilitating fear… I decided to use BoatLife Life Caulk in my hatch seams, a single part polysulfide. I loved how easily the old seams came out with simply a razor blade down each side and a little tug on one end. So I laid in a bond breaker just like the previous installation. Here, again, I used a BoatLife product.

The decision to varnish over caulk came, after one day realizing that non-skid on these hatches isn’t a huge priority, since most of the hatches are covered: the dodger covers the main sliding hatch, the dinghy sets on top of the turtle, and the forward scuttle hatch isn’t really a place you need to climb up onto for any reason.

So Life Caulk, and a healthy coating of Bristol Finish is the plan right now. However, Honey Teak looks so good on my drop boards, I might give that a whirl here. Roger Olsen also used Honey Teak as his base coat on hatches, and it looks great after many years of service down in the ever hot and sticky Panama. I’m happy to be trying a variety of products, to learn the ins and outs of each one. However, it leaves me with many more cans of various toxins to store, and carry around with me for future touch-up and maintenance.

In keeping with my “try em all” mindset, I might give BoatLife’s 2 part polysulfide, called Type P, a shot on my next victim: the turtle (aka seahood). The price difference is negligible, however, you do need to buy and fill your own cartridges, adding to the expense and potential for a huge mess with this option. The main reason for trying the 2 part is it offers a reduced cure time. Single part polysulfide cure time until sandable is 7-10 days. Ouch! While the 2 part claims 24-48 hours until sandable. Ahhh…

I switched over to Bristol Finish on the skylight due to price and availability of the product. It is roughly 35% cheaper then Honey Teak, although it’s very hard to compare square foot coverage between the two. It’s also available locally through West Marine.  One other factor was fewer components. There is no “honey” coloring base coat. You simply mix the 2 part Bristol Finish and go 6 coats wet on wet. I like to let the final coat dry, sand it with 220/brown scrubby pad, then apply the final coat, a day or two later.

I had a few set backs on the skylight. Firstly was my silicone application. I let the silicone set up too long before snugging it down tight. I had to pull it all off and try again. Secondly, when fastening down the bronze bars, I had the the center piece upside down, which caused a bow in the bronze. Had to pull those off as well and rebed.

Overall it’s not the most beautiful job, I have some silicone splooge and some wandering dolphinite, and a few more scratches on the lexan… but overall it looks good, from the 5′ minimum viewing distance. BEWARE, VARNISH BITES,  STAND BACK 5 FEET.

I’m taking suggestions on excess silicone and dolphinite removal techniques.

It’s a very heavy skylight once you put it all back together. I like the salty look of this skylight, however, it’s labor intensive and heavy. More than once while working on the skylight, I thought about the sensible, simpler, lighter skylight on my Nor’sea 27 and wondered if one day I would ever tackle the project of rebuilding this skylight to be more like that hatch.