110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
Ashantee | Monday, December 22, 2014
Examining the hull closely, I noted and marked for future reference any small dings, gouges, previous repairs, gelcoat voids, and other places that might need additional attention. Afterwards, armed with a small rotary sander, I went back and sanded out these areas, creating large-enough voids to allow fairing compound to adhere well. Among these areas was the centerline seam at the stern, which had some cosmetic cracking, so I ground out an area around this along its entire visible length.
After vacuuming and solvent-washing, I applied the first of what would ultimately be two or three coats of epoxy fairing compound to the areas I'd prepared.
The cove stripe was set in a molded recess (a molded cove, actually...what do you know), and featured a top layer of vinyl striping tape covering an older, painted stripe beneath. To properly prepare this area I had to remove the old striping. Because of the recess, there was no way to do this mechanically without damaging the shape of the cove, so I faced quite a bit of hand work.
Beginning with a heat gun and scraper I removed the vinyl tape first. The old vinyl was challenging to remove since I on this tape couldn't find a good balance between heat and less heat: too much and the tape stretched and immediately tore; too little and the tape was brittle and immediately tore. The fine line between the two eluded me over most areas. So for the most part, the tape came off in maddening, tiny pieces, particularly on the starboard side where the tape was checked and more damaged to begin with. Eventually I exposed the paint beneath, after which I acetone washed to get rid of leftover adhesive from the vinyl.
Continuing, I hand-sanded away the old paint, ending with 120 grit.
Total Time Billed on This Job Today: 8
Hours
