May 5, 2019
Prior to the necessary margaritas this evening, I wanted to follow up on the recent small bulkheads that I installed at the aft of the v-berth platform. I had intentions of getting paint on in the interior of the v-berth lockers, but I would run out of time required to lay down "hot coats" of the epoxy barrier protection paint. Leaving the paint on to dry over an extended amount of time would require coming back to water-wash the surface and then sand prior to subsequent coats of paint. In the coming week, I intend to apply three coats of the epoxy paint within about 2 hours from the previous coat of paint.
Today, I was able to get to sanding and paint prep. I began by water-washing the amine blush from the surface of the recent epoxy work, and then dried the surfaces. I hand-sanded the tight areas, where a tool could not access, and then followed up the balance of the open spaces with the 5" DA random orbital sander.
I started on the port side of the hull, sanding the forward and aft surface of the small bulkhead.
I then jumped over to the starboard side of the boat and sanded the forward and aft surfaces of the bulkhead.
Once paint goes down in these spaces, the overall appearance will be dramatically improved.
To further get things sorted out and ready for paint, I needed to get the new v-berth platform tops' aft cleats in place. These cleats would be secured (glued and screwed) to the primary bulkheads and would provide support and rigidity to the platform tops.
Back in the shop, I grabbed some 1.5" x 3/4" mahogany cleat stock that I had previously prepared, and cut two 18" long cleats. I then pre-drilled for screws (four per cleat), and countersunk for the screw heads. With the new v-berth platform tops in place, I marked and then secured the cleats in place on the primary bulkhead face. With the cleat in position, I then drilled a shallow hole to get things started with the fasteners. I removed the cleat, set the screws, applied glue to the length of the cleat, and finally screwed the cleat in its final position.
These small cubbies on either side of the v-berth cabin would be great candidates for some open netting to be installed roughly half-way up to securely hold its contents but also allow one to see what is being stowed. They will also be painted out with the epoxy barrier paint.
With the sander still out, I removed the peel ply from the recent thru-hull patches and sanded them to ensure there were no areas standing proud of the surrounding molded fiberglass liner.
Satisfied that the patches were not standing proud, I cleaned them by vacuuming the surfaces followed by an acetone wash. I applied epoxy resin next, and then applied thickened epoxy as a fairing compound to fill and shallow spots or depressions. It appeared that I would be able to get away with but one application of fairing compound; sanding in the coming days should be all that is required prior to primer paint being applied. That would complete the day's work.
Total Time Today: 3 hrs
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