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This last bit of untreated hull has been hanging over (under) us for some time as it is such a dirty job to do that we kept putting it off. We finally got the idea of bracing the bulkhead ahead of it, removing the old floor, sealing any holes to stop the rust dust invading all our living area and then I could get on with it. It might not strictly be 100 years of dirt and rust but it looked like it so I suited up and started scooping out the rust.
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After the hand chiselling/scraping came the air chisel to break up the layers of rust and cement wash that hid the actual bottom of our floating home. It could be quite worrying, chiselling the inside of a rusty hull while afloat, but we knew that the bottom had been doubled with new 6mm steel after Lorna bought the boat back in 1996.
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Chiselling and vacuuming went on and on for 3 days until it was ready for treating with phosphoric acid to turn the rust into an inert barrier. When fresh it is this milky colour and then it dries to a shiny black as it reacts with the rusty surface.
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Then 2 coats of yellow zinc phosphate primer followed by 2 coats of marine gloss. Here I use up the end of a red tin of dulux metalshield. The inside of the boat is so many colours as we use up any scraps of marine gloss that we have. Anyway, now we feel it is protected and we can lay a floor over it. Hopefully that is a job for 2013 when we continue this fit out.
We were really pleased to get this last bit of hull treated which paves the way for foaming and panelling this bit. This period was quiet with cruising over for the year yet it was warm enough to paint. We could manage some nice autumn walks and cool sunny bike rides before the bad weather sets in, a great autumn. We can start planning next year's cruise up through Belgium to Gwent and Bruges now.