On Friday, the 12. August, we finally arrived in Southwest Harbor. Of course, the first road led us to the hallowed halls of HINCKLEY shipyard. Since we knew, that our CESARINA should be prepared for painting, we found it then also in the hall 3, the Empire of Jeff. Jeff has 25 Years in charge of the painting of new and newly painted yachts. His reputation preceded him already. It should be probably the best and most experienced man on the US east coast for top yacht finishes. After all be here at Hinckley circa 60 painted yachts per year, what ever is indeed a decent number.

The first preparatory Been already done. This means, that the damaged areas in the outer skin (Gelcoat) have already been filled and sanded. What followed now, one can safely be called a real backbreaking. Since CESARINA will get a very dark varnish, of this clear coat will be glossy even by four extra layers, the surface must be perfectly flat. This high quality is obtained, by a relatively coarse sandpaper on a ca. 1 Meter long and flexible board is glued and is then ground with entirely by hand and with a lot of muscle of the entire body. In technical terms this is called "boarding". One must never forget, that we here about a 17,40 Meter long ship talking. Since the arms can be quite long. These are the guys on fluctuating Bretten at lofty heights. But this job needs about. 50 working hours. But for any compromise, neither Jeff nor do we have. Top Quality needs just perfect preparation.

After the extent subtleties were discussed, Then we went in search of our engine, we finally found the Locksmith. CESARINA`s "heart" stood neatly with new paint provided on the floor of the workshop. What has prepared a joy to me this sight, is hard to describe. The machine really looked like new. I had spent with work on the motor and so often annoyed me, how many hours, that deep in the bilge, a malodorous, oily liquid stood and looked the engine, as if he were already 20000 running hours. In fact, he has only 2000 Hours on the clock. I know, I am in these matters perhaps pedantic, but I love it now even, when everything is clean and tasty. For this reason we can also coat the entire bilge novel and can overtake the machine thoroughly. Folgende Arbeiten an der Maschine wurden in Auftrag gegeben: Maschine ausbauen, reinigen und neu lackieren, Dieselpumpe und Injektoren ausbauen und neu kalibrieren lassen, alle Leitungen, Filter und Schläuche erneuern, Ölwechsel, Impeller wechseln, Ventile einstellen , Anlasser erneuern, Lichtmaschine erneuern, Stoppschalter erneuern, manuellen Stoppschalter installieren, Gas und Schaltzug erneuern, Getriebeöl erneuern etc. Dazu gibt es noch eine neue Dieselfilteranlage und eine neue Bilgenpumpe. I'm looking forward to, wenn ich den Maschinenraum später einmal als Schmuckstück präsentieren kann, was ich dann auch sicherlich sehr gern tun werde. Einen Maschinenraum von dessen Fußboden man essen kann 🙂 Perfekt eben!

The guys had worked hard on the ship over the weekend and sanded through all the bumps on the hull, spatula, grinding eliminated. The many white spots have all been filled and sanded once. In addition to strong arms, this also includes very good eyes, Sensitivity and a good deal of experience.

The next step followed on Tuesday. After the fuselage has been cleaned and taped off again and wrapped in foil, Jeff then applied the so-called primer with the spray gun. The primer does the job, that the paint will later adhere perfectly to the substrate. You could already see here, that the painted surfaces were as smooth as a baby's bottom.

After the primer had dried through overnight, Then it was time to grind again. The entire surface had to be sanded again using an eccentric sander, On the one hand to prepare the primer for the next layer of paint and on the other hand to remove any pimples on the surface. On Thursday the time had come, that Jeff could paint the entire fuselage in AWL Grib "Flag Blue". A total of five layers of paint were applied with the spray gun, to achieve a perfect and long-lasting layer thickness. It sounds so simple, but quite the opposite is the case. One has to consider, that the areas are very large and that kilos of paint is evenly applied there. To do this, the painter works in a full protective suit with a breathing mask, otherwise he would pass out from the scaffolding because of the solvents. He still has to be careful, that the lacquer is not applied too thickly because otherwise there would be runs and lacquer protrusions. The work was done late in the evening.

On Friday at noon I came into the hall full of anticipation and thought I couldn't believe my eyes. Jeff was already working on the really high-gloss and perfect surface again with the grinder. With a laugh in his eyes he told me, he would have the feeling himself, dass dieser Schritt reiner Vandalismus sei 🙂 Auf der linken Seite spiegelte sich die Wand und auf der rechten Seite war schon wieder alles fein matt geschliffen. Aber es ist nun einmal notwendig, weil ich mir mit den zusätzlichen 4 Schichten Klarlack einen Sonderwunsch erfüllt habe. Der Lack soll später einmal so aussehen, als läge er unter einer Schicht aus Glas. Wenn sich das Wasser und die Sonne darin spiegelt, soll es dadurch wunderschöne Licht- und Farbeffekte geben. Das hat sogar den Lackierern gefallen, weil es schon etwas besonderes ist und wohl nur selten bestellt wird. Aber unsere CESARINA ist ja schließlich auch ein besonderes Schiff 🙂

Am Sonntag stand ein weiteres Highlight auf dem Programm. Against 11:00 Renee picked us up from the motel and we drove to the shipyard together. Renee is an artist from Southwest Harbor, who have been using the names in 24 Carat Gold Leaf conjures up the stern of noble yachts. We met on the ship a few weeks ago, to talk about ideas and wishes in this regard. After a few drafts, we then agreed on one of them, which appeared to be coherent to all sides. By means of a layer of carbon parchment paper between the sheet of paper with the lettering and the rear, she brought the outlines of the individual letters to the stern. Then came the artistic act. She then hand-painted the individual letters with a brush and a special tincture. Allein die vielen Rundungen und Bögen über große Strecken so perfekt hinzubekommen ist eine echte Kunst. After a good 5 Stunden war es dann vollbracht.

Im nächsten Schritt wird eine dünne Lage aus 24 Gold über die gemalten Flächen mit dem Kleber gelegt und angedrückt. Anschließend werden mit einem weichen Pinsel die überstehenden Goldreste entfernt und in einer Schachtel aufgefangen. Spätestens jetzt zeigt es sich wie präzise und sauber der Pinsel geführt wurde. Renee hat es sehr perfekt hinbekommen. Letztendlich hat sie auch nur einen Versuch. Sonst würde es teuer werden und der Untergrund wäre auch gründlich versaut 🙂

Das perfekte Finish erhält das Kunstwerk dann noch dadurch, dass mit einem Tuch aus Samt die weichen Oberflächen bearbeitet werden. Durch vorsichtige Streichbewegungen unter leichtem Druck auf dem weichen Gold werden feinste Konturen erzeugt, in denen sich das Licht bricht und je nach Lichteinfallswinkel tolle Effekte ergibt. Genau wie bei unserem Lack 🙂 Ganz am Schluss wird das gesamte Heck mit 8 Schichten Klarlack überzogen, um den Schriftzug dauerhaft zu versiegeln. Ich bin der Meinung, dass man es kaum noch perfekter machen könnte 🙂