The weather was warm and dry today so I put the second coat of boot top on the hull and removed the masking tape. I'm getting short of masking tape but I'm almost finished with the painting and I think I have enough to last for the rest of the work.

The lower edge of the boot top as seen in the photo is a little ragged due to the tape not sticking to the burgundy paint in places, but that's only a cosmetic issue and not one that concerns me at all.

The rudder blade also had its boot top completed and the tape removed.

Generally speaking, the hull is looking good. It's not perfect but it is a sailing boat not a work of art.

I'll give the paint work a day or two undisturbed to harden and then turn the boat over. I also removed some of the hardware on the rudder stock, gave it a light sand, and a coat of burgundy paint. This will get two or three coats and then two coats of boot top.

But before I do that I want to complete the trailer cradle. I cut six lengths of marine plywood 30mm wide and laminated these to the bilge runner supports.

This will form a lip to prevent sideways movement of the boat when being towed on the trailer and also it will act as a guide when putting the boat onto the trailer at haul-out time. Well, that is the idea. All of the supports will be covered with old carpet to prevent the wood from scraping the new paint and to protect the supports a little as well.

Once these laminations are stuck on securely I'll also screw them in place with long screws and glue on the carpet. Then I shall place them on the boat and fashion some cross pieces to fix the three parts together. After that it's fix it to the trailer somehow. That should be interesting.

Time for a cup of tea.