110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
On deck, I sanded the areas I'd pinhole-filled yesterday, then vacuumed up the dust. This process highlighted several areas that I missed, particularly at the forward end of the cockpit--perhaps because the light was much better this morning than last afternoon, when the light was very flat. In any event, there was more of the minor filling to be done on deck, so I solvent-washed as needed and then applied a light coat of the fine filling compound to the sections required.
While sanding the hull, I'd also observed that some of the underlying gelcoat cracking had become pronounced. While the heavy primer had done well to cover the tighter, all-over cracking that existed throughout the gelcoat (as hoped), some of the cracks featured more width and depth than had been apparent during earlier preparation steps--either that, or I'd hoped the high-build would successfully fill them.
Much earlier, we'd determined that it was financially fruitless to make any attempt to eradicate the cracking from the hull: short of heroic and time-consuming steps, such as complete gelcoat removal and/or encapsulating in light cloth and epoxy, the cracking was simply something that existed, and would always exist on some level. Fortunately, in most areas the gelcoat, though badly crazed and cracked, was sound and well-adhered, which meant that we could choose to leave it in place as long as expectations for the cracks' reappearance were kept at realistic levels.
Nevertheless, the deeper cracks that had manifested themselves following the high-build application required attention, lest they immediately ruin all attempts at a reasonable finish. So after thoroughly vacuuming and solvent-washing the hull, I applied fine fairing compound as required, forcing it into these cracks to the extent possible, while also filling the usual minor pinholes that had become apparent during the sanding process. While I was under no delusions as to the permanence or perfection of the chosen means of crack amelioration, the fine fill material would at least minimize the cracks' depth and provide an even substrate for the next coats of primer, to be applied later in the process.
I left the filler to cure for the weekend.
Total Time Billed on This Job Today: 5.5 hours
