Stripping Paint

For someone who seems almost proud of his gruffness Newt can be a very patient man. For days he has been removing paint from the original Silent Maid using an infrared heater and a scraper.  Occasionally he takes a smoke break and now and again he will share what he knows with a museum visitor but he is mostly learning exactly how big Silent maid really is as the paint comes off with a 2 inch scraper.

Every repair and alteration Maid has endured over the years is now apparent. The short sections of planking that have been replaced and the refastening she got as her original steel nails rusted away. These are the reasons the paint is coming off, it wasn't in terrible shape, and was not that thick, so someone else must have done this job not too long ago. This time we will document what we find with a series of incredibly boring photographs and a description of what's there. Boring unless you need the information contained in them.
Because the boat has been refastened we will not be doing anything beyond painting to the exterior of the hull. The bottom paint will be replaced with a house paint of the proper color to protect the wood better in an indoor environment and reduce toxicity. The jury is still out on whether any attempt should be made to reinforce the boat's structure or if a cradle should be relied on for this entirely. The hull does show an alarming degree of flexibility, but a well designed cradle may take care of this.

Museum boat cradle design presents challenges. If the boat is displayed the cradle should disappear visually, the idea is to showcase the boat not the means of supporting it. Chunky brick outhouse structures are out of the question then. Figuring out a good way to support Silent Maid will give the paint removal crew something to contemplate while performing a rote task.