February 4, 2022
Lyra Phase 2-29
Friday
First thing, I finished up the hull sanding–the midships third (or so) of the boat on each side–along with the companionway hatch, with 220 grit paper.
With the sanding complete for now, I vacuumed the dust from the hull and deck, then solvent-washed the surfaces.
Next, I went over the entire boat carefully, using a light and (now-needed) magnifying glasses to mark with a pencil all the little pinholes, porosity, and other tiny nicks and dings that required fine filling or fine-tuning. Small voids tend to show up in exposed laminate (especially old laminate from which the gelcoat has been sanded off), in new fairing compound, and in assorted other places that were highlighted by the fresh primer, like it was its job (it is). On this boat, the toerails–both inside and out–were particular problem areas, with substantial areas full of porosity from oversanding that had exposed the mat-laden laminate beneath.
With all requiring attention duly marked, I mixed and applied gray epoxy fine fairing compound as needed, leaving it to cure over the weekend.
Total time billed on this job today: 5.5 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 20°, sleet, a couple inches down overnight. Forecast for the day: Sleet and snow, 4-8″, temperature falling to 14°