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Thursday

I sanded the new fiberglass on the starboard hull/deck joint and across the transom, and also sanded the first round of fairing compound on the port side.

On the coachroof, I sanded off most of the old paint and did what I could at this point to even out the surface, my next step towards improving the appearance and finish of this large area.  I had to strike a balance between how much paint I could remove and how much to sand the fiberglass surface, since the paint had been applied without benefit of any fairing or smoothing and there were numerous areas where the paint was deep in the weave of the cloth and other low spots.

After cleaning up from the day’s sanding efforts, I applied epoxy fairing compound to the hull/deck joint as needed, with the first coat on the starboard side and transom.  With the second coat on the port side, I used a wider trowel to continue the overall fairing efforts on the rebuilt sidedeck (and other areas as needed), incorporating it into the new hull/deck joint.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  55°, mainly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Clouds and sun, showers, around 70 but becoming cooler in the afternoon

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Wednesday

To get started, I installed the two layers of biaxial tabbing on the starboard hull/deck joint, repeating the process I’d completed on the port side earlier.

After a break for a few hours while I completed some work on another project getting ready to leave the shop later in the week, I lightly sanded the new fiberglass on the port gunwale to prepare it for fairing.

After cleaning up, I installed two layers of tabbing over the taffrail/transom section of the hull/deck joint.  Here, I required shorter sections to better approximate the curvature of the seam.

Finally, I applied the first coat of epoxy fairing compound to the port gunwale, beginning to smooth the new work in to the existing surfaces of hull and deck.  For now, I focused on filling the edge between the top layer of tabbing and the existing surfaces, and filled the weave of the cloth in the remaining areas.

Total time billed on this job today:  5.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  40°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 80s

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Tuesday

I continued with another round of sanding on the deck areas as needed.

The coachroof would require a fair bit of work going forward, as the existing repairs, while apparently sound, were far from cosmetically acceptable.  As a first step, I had to get rid of the remnants of the old adhesive that had secured the Treadmaster.  In this case, since the existing surface was such a mess and wasn’t remotely fair to begin with, I used a sanding disc on a grinder to quickly remove the worse of the old adhesive and aggressive nonskid paint on the coachroof, taking care not to go too far and leaving behind a skim of paint that I’d remove another time with a less-aggressive tool.

My next main focus was the hull-deck joint.  Now that the port sidedeck was rebuilt, and the first round of fairing applied that had brought the edge to similar contours as the remaining portion of the deck, it was time to get to the fiberglassing.  To prepare, I masked off below the edge of the area I’d prepared on the hull to catch the inevitable drips of resin during the installation, and pre-cut a series of 24″ lengths of 6″ and 4″ biaxial tabbing that I’d use to glass over the joint.

I spent the remainder of the day installing the two layers of fiberglass over the port gunwale, starting at the bow with a couple special pieces that I cut to incorporate a hole repair over the old anchor hawse located near the rail.  I staggered the seams between the two layers by 12″, and, installing two sections at a time, worked my way aft to the transom by the end of the day.

To finish up, I pre-cut a couple special pieces for the starboard side, mainly to fit around the winch island, which would save time in the morning when I wanted to repeat the glassing process on the other side.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  30°, mostly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Clouds and a shower, then becoming sunny, 60°

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Thursday

I continued to close in towards the effective end of the most significant deck repairs with another round of sanding.  With many smaller cosmetic repairs still to go, as well as the work on the hull-deck joint, I looked forward to wrapping up this round of major work so I could focus on the rest.

After the usual cleanup, I applied additional fairing filler where necessary.  The bridgedeck and coachroof (and other, smaller areas) were all more or less at the proper contours, but there were sundry trowel marks and low spots that required attention.

On the new port sidedeck, I applied an initial coat of fairing filler to fill the weave of the cloth and bring the deck to an approximation of its final shape.  There was a sort of oddball transition at the forward end, where the “old repair” had met the existing foredeck, and where I’d cut out additional suspect material in order to make the new work better.  The need to start somewhere and build off the old work, particularly with the damaged and oddly-build inner skin on this side of the boat (and where it transitioned to the original construction in the area in question) required this transitional area, which had also been evident in the old work before demolition; the fact that it was evident was indicative of the overall effectiveness of that now-dismantled repair.

Now, though the little bump necessarily still existed, this section would fair in properly with the new after portion of the deck without much trouble.  The first coat made good strides in this direction.

Total time billed on this job today:  4 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  50°, fog and showers.  Forecast for the day:  Fog and showers, then improving in the afternoon

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Wednesday

I got started with another round of sanding as needed about the decks, including the bridgedeck, coachroof, portions of the hull-deck joint, and the cockpit.

After cleaning up and other preparations, I dry-fit the three new layers of fiberglass on the port sidedeck to check the fit and to make some reference marks to help with alignment of the layers during installation.  I staggered the seams between all three layers so no seam was above or near either of the other two seams between pieces of cloth.

After a break while I helped and observed the departure of one of my completed projects, I spent the first half of the afternoon installing the three layers of fiberglass on the port sidedeck.

Afterwards, I applied another round of fairing filler to the other repairs as needed, mainly for the new work on the coachroof and bridgedeck, but also some minor spot-filling in the cockpit and a few areas of the hull-deck joint.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  45°, cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Clouds, showers, then steady rain late in the afternoon and evening

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Monday

I began with my usual round of sanding, this time the new fiberglass on the bridgedeck and coachroof, and around the new core on the port sidedeck, along with portions of the hull/deck joint.  Some portions of the filled joint on the port side were now basically complete, with two applications of filler, and where possible I rounded the edge to the final contours.

After cleaning up, I made a quick paper pattern of the port sidedeck so I could cut the new fiberglass a little later in the day.

To provide a smooth transition between the edge of the new core and the hull flange for the new fiberglass, I used a mixture of epoxy with high-density structural filler to fill a small gap between the flange (which rose up a bit higher than the bottom skin laminate) and the top of the core.  This also maintained a fair line from the edge of the existing deck flange (inboard) to the gunwale.

Earlier, near the port gunwale on the foredeck, I’d ground out a couple old and suspect repairs on the deck so I could add some new fiberglass.  While I planned to incorporate these areas into the eventual hull/deck tabbing a little later, for now I wanted to add a layer of fiberglass to begin the buildup and allow me to fill the edge of the deck through these sections as well.

At the aftermost end of the port sidedeck was a small area outboard of the cockpit where I’d removed core earlier.  I’d decided long  before to fill this tiny section with solid fiberglass, so with the core underway I went ahead and installed 8 layers of 1708 in the small space, spread out over two applications during the morning and afternoon.

Next, I applied epoxy fairing compound to the newly-glassed bridgedeck and coachroof, the first coat to begin to fill the weave of the cloth as necessary.  I also applied fairing compound to the last cockpit patch on the sole, plus the other areas that had only received one coat of fairing filler so far.

Most of the starboard hull/deck edge required a second round of epoxy filler, which I did now.  I used up extra in areas on the port side where I’d not previously filled, such as around the small repairs on the foredeck.

To finish up the day and prepare for next time, I cut three layers of 1708 fiberglass for the port sidedeck.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  26°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 60°

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Friday

After removing the core weights and other preparations, I lightly sanded the newly-cored areas to remove any epoxy ridges or overspill, and sanded the new fiberglass top skins on the smaller repairs I’d made earlier.  I’d also applied some filler to the small depression in the bottom skin near the forward end of the port sidedeck, and lightly sanded that as well.

In my usual way, I made paper patterns for the fiberglass needed for the bridgedeck and coachroof, and cut out two layers of 1708 fiberglass for each section.

I filled any small gaps remaining around the new core with a thickened epoxy mixture, and after letting that sit while  I cut out the new fiberglass, I laminated both areas with the two new layers.

I dry fit the new core pieces on the port sidedeck, made a couple minor adjustments, and then installed the new core in thickened epoxy adhesive, weighing it all down securely.

In the cockpit, I filled the large hole left over from the steering pedestal, then installed the two layers of fiberglass over the top of the whole area that I’d prepared earlier.  I also filled and patched the old fuel tank fill hole on the poop deck.  Later, once I’d shifted operations belowdecks, I’d complete these two patches from the underside.

Finally, picking up where I’d left off before, I finished up the initial filling of the hull-deck joint on the starboard side, and applied a second round of filler as needed to some of the previously-filled areas on the port side.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  34°, drizzle.  Forecast for the day:  Clouds, showers, maybe some sun, around 50°

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Thursday

I began with my usual round of sanding over the various patches currently underway, including the port sidedeck, two small areas where I’d installed new core,  and the first round of filler at the hull/deck joint where I’d applied it.

Next, I patterned and cut fiberglass for the small repairs on the coachroof and starboard sidedeck, and installed the two layers of new fiberglass in epoxy resin.

Earlier, I’d cut the new core material for the bridgedeck and the larger section of the coachroof, and now I dry-fit the pieces to check the fit.

With the steep angle of the coachroof, I was concerned that the weights I used to press the core in place during installation would slip off, so to help hold things in place I hot-glued several scraps of wood to the edge of the deck.

With preparations complete, I wet out the new core and installed it in epoxy adhesive, weighing it down securely.

I repeated the process with the bridgedeck core.

On the port sidedeck, I laid out the patterns I’d used for the first layer of fiberglass, then marked the outer edge where I wanted the new core to end, about 3-1/2″ in from the edge of the hull.  Then, I cut the new core to fit, bringing me to the end of the day.  I’d be ready to install this next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  36°, mostly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Mainly cloudy, 49°