Thursday 20 June 2013

Bottom fibreglassed and prep for fairing

Don't get too excited.  I have done quite a bit of work on the boat, but unfortunately other than denting my boat fund it doesn't look too much different.

With the sides fibreglassed and one coat of epoxy on them I cut the mat for the bottom.  I had continued the side mat up over the side/bottom join and onto the bottom a bit, so cut the mat to overlap that but not go all the way out to the side.  I worked front to back in a single sheet and trimmed it carefully from on top of the hull.




Mixed a big lot of epoxy and spread from the front working back, carefully climbing down to mix more as I went.   Was not too bad as the almost flat surface meant the epoxy didn't run like it did down the sides.  Below is after fully wetting out.



And a close up looking across the bottom from the ladder you can see above left:




I left it overnight and when I came back gave the sides and bottom a light sand, then coated them again with epoxy using the roller.  I did the sides first (I had a plan) and then stood on the ladder and did the bottom with a piece of wood jammed into the roller as a handle.  You can see it leaning on the saw horses above.  By the time I had done both sides, then the top (with numerous epoxy mixes) the sides were tacky so I could put a third coat on them.

I wasn't sure if I needed a third coat on the bottom so stopped.  When I came back it turns out being flat I had put two good coats on it so the weave of the mat was fully covered, as it now was on the sides.

I cannot believe how much epoxy I used, I seemed to have empty 4 litre bottles everywhere.  Had to make an emergency trip to Boatcraft Pacific to stock up.

In preparation for fairing (sanding to make sure the surfaces are even and smooth) I mixed epoxy with light filler powder and spread it all over both sides using a 4mm notched tile adhesive spreader.  My initial mixes were a bit runny, but this is only the first coat and once a bit of sanding has been done I will have to fill any low spots anyway.

Below is an overhead shot while the sides are still wet.



And one from the side.  It looks a lot more uneven than it actually is, but once it is dry I will take some more photos before I start sanding.





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