Monday, October 14, 2013

Shine On

We are often in the midst of several big projects at once, and even so constantly find ourselves stuck waiting for weather or parts.  We fill this "downtime" with little projects here and there.  Frank has an obsession with shiny brass, which we have a lot of on Moitessier.  When we first moved aboard, a lot of it had been let go and was dull and tarnished. He has been slowly tackling it piece by piece, and often when I am in our bedroom on the computer, I can hear him shining away.  He's been using MAAS Metal Polish to shine it up, which we swear is hands down the best polish we've used. A little goes a long way, and it's even French lavender scented...hmmm how decadent.  To keep the shine and prevent him from having to re-polish, he's been using a protective coating called Protecta Clear from Everbrite Inc.  This is a clear finish that goes on thin and prevents oxidation on brass. It lasts a long time, we've heard up to 10 years, but we will see.  Some of the first things he tackled with it are still gleaming after a year and I must admit that I sure love shiny things.

Feast your eyes on these lovely pieces......

Left: Unpolished     Right: Polished
Oooh La La...
Before
After

5 comments:

  1. I got brass cleaner to clean up my ships bell but haven't thought of cleaning up other parts of the boat. Yet another item now on the list. lol :D

    Amazing how the list grows, isn't it?

    Beautiful work. Like new again ;-)

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  2. Our list is a lot like a jacob's ladder toy, I always feel like we are making progress and getting closer to the end but it some how manages to remain out of reach. I suppose there are worse ways to spend time than working on a boat :-)

    I defiantly recommend using the clear coat over the brass once you polish it. It will save a lot of time re-polishing in the long run.

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  3. I keep all the ports on my HC43 (sv Apropos) polished (exterior side). I found a good product for polishing but haven't used any protective coating so thought I'd give ProtecaClear a try. Have you used it on exterior parts? If so, does it keep the brass from tarnishing after a rain? Did you buy the aerosol or the pint can?

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  4. We have yet to try ProtecaClear on any thing outside. The company says that it designed to be used on exterior metal in the marine environment and I have heard of it being used on sculptures to keep them from tarnishing. We are using the paint can version with a cheep foam brush. It goes on thin like water. With the aerosol it would be hard to prevent overspray. Let us know how it turns out.

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  5. Hello,

    I just finished reading your posts from start to finish. What a fun read. Yu, your writing is great.

    Karen, my wife, and I are working on a plan to sell our current boat, condo and everything else we own. We will buy the next boat this winter, quit our jobs and get out of here.

    We fell in love with Hans Christians when we saw our first one, at a local boat show here in Michigan, 4 - 5 years ago. There is another local boat, an HC 43t, that is on our short list of boats. Like everyone else with this dream, I shop yachtworld incessantly. When you told the story of removing the fake teak deck I realized that I found your boat online a few years ago and coveted it for quite a while. We weren't ready yet then, financially, thought we have long been ready mentally.

    I have to tell you that I am impressed with the thorough and beautiful work you are doing. It is inspiring. Your story has both made me want a Hans more and scared the $%#$ out of me. I am now sure that I could re-caulk a deck but doubt that I could every recreate a bowsprit. I must be crazy to still want one, right?

    As I was reading your story I was looking forward to the day you put Moitessier back in the water. I'm sure you are looking forward to that day too. What does the timeline look like? Is she going in soon?

    Thanks for the story, the inspiration and the healthy dose of fear…

    Brad

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