Two beautiful days of warm weather allowed me to get a fair amount of work done towards finishing this section of core repair.
Materials used: 1708 fiberglass mat, TotalBoat High Performance Epoxy, TotalBoat TotalFair Epoxy Fairing, TotalBoat TotalProtect 2-Part barrier coat (tie-coat)
When we last left, I had finished re-attaching the skin and left it to cure. Coming back after a couple of weeks, I noticed it wasn't as flush as I hoped. So, I took the sander to it with some 40 grit and ground it down to get it as level as possible.
Next up, I laid down some strips of fiberglass to strengthen the seams and then sanded them down. I added another piece in the middle that was big enough to cover both of the seams and tie them together (I'll wish later I had filled those holes better).
After a good sanding, I put down the fairing material right before sunset.
Since the weather was so beautiful, and I had reached a stopping point, I accepted an invitation from @c.gustafson to go out on his E38-200 for a fantastic night sail. He has a beautiful (and fast) boat.
Back to work the next morning, the fairing material was well cured and ready for sanding. I sanded it down as smooth and level as I could.
Since I plan to use gelcoat and SoftSand for my non-skid, I need a tie-coat in between the epoxy and polyester. TotalBoat's instructions say that TotalFair, once cured, is compatible with gelcoat. I used three coats (mostly because, that's all I head leftover from my last project), but I think it provided sufficient thickness.
In a word, this job was itchy. Between sanding epoxy, fiberglass, gelcoat, and fairing, the dust and fibers found their way into my skin and made me itchy for 2 days straight. Overall, I'm happy with the results. I had several club members stop by to check in on my progress as I'm sure they're pondering the spots on their boats that need a repair like this.
If we have another couple of warm days, I'll be putting the gelcoat down. Ideally, I'll sand down the factory non-skid on this entire section (and maybe the port-side section) and apply a uniform color/coat. However, I'm expecting it probably won't be until Spring.
Materials used: 1708 fiberglass mat, TotalBoat High Performance Epoxy, TotalBoat TotalFair Epoxy Fairing, TotalBoat TotalProtect 2-Part barrier coat (tie-coat)
When we last left, I had finished re-attaching the skin and left it to cure. Coming back after a couple of weeks, I noticed it wasn't as flush as I hoped. So, I took the sander to it with some 40 grit and ground it down to get it as level as possible.
Next up, I laid down some strips of fiberglass to strengthen the seams and then sanded them down. I added another piece in the middle that was big enough to cover both of the seams and tie them together (I'll wish later I had filled those holes better).
After a good sanding, I put down the fairing material right before sunset.
Since the weather was so beautiful, and I had reached a stopping point, I accepted an invitation from @c.gustafson to go out on his E38-200 for a fantastic night sail. He has a beautiful (and fast) boat.
Back to work the next morning, the fairing material was well cured and ready for sanding. I sanded it down as smooth and level as I could.
Since I plan to use gelcoat and SoftSand for my non-skid, I need a tie-coat in between the epoxy and polyester. TotalBoat's instructions say that TotalFair, once cured, is compatible with gelcoat. I used three coats (mostly because, that's all I head leftover from my last project), but I think it provided sufficient thickness.
In a word, this job was itchy. Between sanding epoxy, fiberglass, gelcoat, and fairing, the dust and fibers found their way into my skin and made me itchy for 2 days straight. Overall, I'm happy with the results. I had several club members stop by to check in on my progress as I'm sure they're pondering the spots on their boats that need a repair like this.
If we have another couple of warm days, I'll be putting the gelcoat down. Ideally, I'll sand down the factory non-skid on this entire section (and maybe the port-side section) and apply a uniform color/coat. However, I'm expecting it probably won't be until Spring.
