March 10, 2022
Luna Mia 7
Thursday
It was time to get down to business on the main aspect of this project: The hull. With the deck protected and masked and nothing standing in my way, I spent the day removing the existing coatings from the hull, sanding through two grits to get back to the original blue gelcoat and a suitable substrate for the new coatings to come. The existing paint was a one-part product of undetermined type, with primer beneath, and was generally easy to remove, with no surprises underneath; in fact, the hull was in excellent condition all around, save for a few shallow scrapes and the like that would either disappear during the next round of final finish sanding, or with some minor fill work. The repairs I’d made on the transom would require a bit more final work, but I already knew that.
Starting at the bow and working aft on the starboard side, then around the transom and back to the port bow, I removed all the paint and vinyl striping by the end of the day, other than some tight areas on the transom that would require hand work.
Total time billed on this job today: 5.25 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 22°, mainly clear. Forecast for the day: Patchy fog, then mostly sunny, 46°