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Wednesday

The fine fairing compound had cured overnight, and now I sanded it smooth with 220 grit, removing the excess.  A few of the tight corners in the cockpit, including the locker lid gutters and other select areas, would require some additional hand-sanding work in the near future, as during this session I avoided getting bogged down with detail-oriented hand work in favor of the broad strokes of the bulk of the deck surface.

Total time billed on this job today:  4 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  64°, cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Clouds, rain and possible thunderstorms developing, 70s

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Tuesday

I began the day by vacuuming thoroughly the entire boat, deck and hull, to remove excess sanding dust from the previous days’ efforts.  Afterwards, I solvent-washed the deck areas to clean them and prepare for the next step.  I’d eventually do the same to the hull, but only once I’d finished the decks.

The next step was to apply a fine epoxy fairing compound to portions of the deck as needed to fill various and sundry pinholes, small voids and any other areas requiring extra attention as highlighted by the high-build primer.    Because of the extensive nature of the deck repairs and related sanding, there were widespread pinholes to deal with, as anticipated and expected following the primer application, and in both areas of new work and the original surfaces, where sanding had exposed the natural small air pockets in and just beneath the gelcoat, and also a few areas requiring a bit of fine-tuning, such as the fillet around the forward hatch frame and some gelcoat voids in the companionway rails.

Total time billed on this job today:  4 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  48°, clear with low fog.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 75°

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Monday

Continuing on the hull, I worked during the morning to sand the starboard side with 220 grit, smoothing the fresh primer.

After resetting the staging so I could reach the decks again, I finished up the work on deck, sanding the foredeck, sidedecks, poop deck, and cabin trunk/outer coamings as needed to smooth the primer.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  50°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 75°

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Saturday

I got started sanding the high build in the cockpit, sanding all surfaces with 220 grit:  cockpit well, seats, bridgedeck, coamings.

Afterwards, I moved on to the coachroof, as well as a small portion of the foredeck and forward end of the cabin trunk near the centerline where I knew I’d not be able to easily reach later from the staging.

I’d sand the sidedecks and cabin trunk later, but for now, with the staging still set up at hull height, I turned to the hull, starting with the counter on both sides (reaching up as high as I could from the ground) and the transom, then continuing forward along the port side till I reached the stem, where I called it good for the day.  I sanded the fresh primer smooth with 220 grit on a vibrating finish sander and by hand as needed.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  71°, clouds and fog, humid.  Forecast for the day:  Cloudy, showers, fog, a thunderstorm, 73°

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Friday

High build primer is essentially a surfacing primer, and as such represents one of the last most important steps in the hull and deck repair work and surface preparation.  This primer helps to even out the various textures left behind during the previous work–original gelcoat, new fiberglass cloth, and fairing compounds–and serves to highlight pinholes and areas requiring additional fine filling, all of which are an inevitable part of the overall process.

The primer is also an important psychological step, as it signals new beginnings and fresh hope, and marks a significant change of appearance of and direction in the project.  On a large, long-term project like Scupper, I like to do the high build earlier in the process and at the end of repair work, a true dividing line between structural work and finish work, and this also gives me the opportunity to approach the final fine filling and detail sanding at a more leisurely pace while continuing work on other areas of the build.  Finish primer and paint would come substantially later in the process.

After final preparations, I began the high build application with the most central portions of the deck:  the cockpit well, bridgedeck, and coachroof.  I trod upon the masking paper I’d set up previously to avoid stepping on the clean, prepped deck.  I applied three sprayed coats of Alexseal epoxy high-build primer to these areas, then removed the paper and applied three coats of the primer to the remaining deck areas, including the cockpit seats, coamings, remainder of the coachroof, foredeck, cabin sides, and sidedecks.

With three coats on all deck areas, I moved the staging planks down to the lower height required for hull access, and sprayed three coats of the primer on the hull as well, completing the day’s work and transforming the appearance of the boat.

Total time billed on this job today:  8 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  48°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny with increasing clouds, chance of a thunderstorm later, 74°

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Thursday

I spent the morning working on the final details of pre-primer prep, including setting up spray gun equipment, pre-stirring the always-settled paint cans, final deck and hull preparations including tack-off, and other related tasks.

Next:  high build primer.

Total time billed on this job today:  2.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  Mostly cloudy and low fog, 68°.  Forecast for the day:  Partly sunny, 82°

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Wednesday

Moving forward with the final preparations leading to high build primer, I began the day vacuuming the interior and decks, and cleaning up the boat and shop to remove dust.  Afterwards, I solvent-washed the decks so I could start to mask off the various openings before spraying, starting with forward hatch and any other openings accessed from the cabin, including the two forward-facing port openings.  In the engine room, I masked over the cockpit scuppers and compass hole from beneath, and I crawled aft to mask over the new lazarette hatch from within as well.

With interior work complete, I masked over the companionway opening and wooden slide rails, as well as the large opening port in the aft end of the cabin.  In the cockpit, I masked the rudder post and the two locker openings.

To continue working on deck, as well as prepare for spraying ahead, I had to set up the staging to deck height again.  Before I did so. and while access to the hull was clear, I applied some masking paper below the previously-masked waterline mark, to protect the bottom from overspray when I sprayed the hull.  Then, I set up the staging as needed.

Continuing on deck, I solvent-washed the cabin sides and sidedecks, then masked over the six elliptical port openings in the cabin sides.

Now I solvent-washed the hull, getting what I could reach from the staging, then moving to the floor to finish up the last parts.  Like the decks, this was a basic solvent wash with paint thinner to remove the bulk of the dust and/or prepare for masking  tape.

With all the other prep now complete, I washed down the staging and floor with water to calm and remove any final dust, then turned to the final solvent wash of hull and deck, this time with the paint system’s proprietary wipe-down solvent intended for the task.  On the decks, I added some paper, well-taped in place, on which I’d need to stand or kneel during the first parts of the spraying later on, so I could reach the centermost portions of the coachroof and the cockpit well.

Several final preparation steps remained, and I’d complete those next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  Clouds, fog, drizzle, humid, 75°   Forecast for the day:  Clouds and sun, humid, chance of showers or a thundershower, low 80s°