Sanding & Spot Fill (Prepping for Primer Coats)

December 7, 2017

REMEMBERING THOSE WHO GAVE IT ALL, THIS DAY IN '41

Maintaining my goal of getting primer coats on the deck, cockpit and topsides this weekend, I arrived home and got busy sanding and spot-filling the areas that required it.  Most of the work in this evening's short session was on the interior liners.

I started with the foredeck - just needing a quick sanding with 220-grit paper and the RO sander.  I had a couple carry-over depressions (really slight, but there nevertheless), so I hit those with the 5" diameter RO and solved the equation!

Interesting how the remaining fairing compounds give the picture motion.  I promise I wasn't running across the foredeck while snapping photos!

After finishing the foredeck, I moved below and either hand-sanded areas that required fill (gouges and flaking gelcoat), or used a tapered bit to open up old fastener holes.  After creating a surface for good mechanical bonding with the epoxy, I vacuumed and thoroughly wiped the surfaces with solvent.  I then applied 'neat' epoxy to the areas to be filled - neat epoxy being straight, or epoxy without a thickening filler.

With the areas to be filled wetted-out, I simply moved around the cabin applying the thickened epoxy with various tools that enabled as easy an application method as possible.

I will likely get to sanding these areas on Friday evening, depending on the temperatures and related epoxy curing success.

Since the focus this coming weekend are the exterior surfaces, I won't be disappointed in not being able to sand and fair the interior.

Total Time Today: 1 hr

Sanding (Prepping for Primer Coats)

December 5, 2017

During the week I will be finalizing the balance of the filling and fairing work to be done prior to the primer coats to be laid on the deck and cockpit.  I will also be finishing up the last few remaining spots in the cabin that require fairing work before I can apply the cabin's finish paint.  To that end, I moved quickly across Joule, both the interior and exterior, and water-washed the previous sessions cured epoxy.  I then grabbed the sanding materials.  First up, I hit the repair made to the outboard edge of the v-berth (starboard side), and brought that surface to fair; I then followed that up with the few remaining areas on the cabin liner overhead.  I discovered a couple more spots that require some attention, but I should nevertheless be ready for the weekend's primer coat sessions.

I also sanded the remaining spots on the cabin sole; all on the forward section, and just filling pinholes and a slight depression.

I turned my attention to the exterior, having wanted to take advantage of the sunlight I had to accomplish the interior work, and worked my way around Joule's hull, sanding a few topside spots that were a combination of ever-so-small chips in the gelcoat or pinholes.  I used the RO sander with 320-grit pads for this application.

Finally, I made my way forward with 320-grit strip paper and a firm longboard for the foredeck fairing.  There were some pinholes here that required fine fairing compound, but also a couple very slight dips both to starboard and port of the centerline.  I spent most of my time here, and achieved good results.  Using the best tool in the tool bag for sanding - the human hand - I could still feel very shallow depressions, and so spread a thin layer of 410 Microlight across these spots.  Tomorrow, I will come back to finish the foredeck, as well as hit the couple places on the interior liner.  

Total Time Today: 1 hr

Final Round of Fairing Cabin Sole and Foredeck, Second Coat on the Bilge, and....Brightwork!

December 3, 2017

Picking up where I had left off from yesterday, I water-washed the amine blush from the now cure fairing work: the foredeck, cabin sole, as well as spot areas here and there.  I've had such focus on the larger to-do items that I seem to keep finding small blemishes that could spoil an otherwise great finish paint application.  So, slowing down a bit while working across Joule, I took the opportunity to spot-fill areas that required it.  I took note of those smaller areas before addressing the day's more significant items.

 The first of the items for the day was to further dial-in the foredeck recore work.  I spent a few minutes with the RO sander quickly knocking down the areas where the fairing compound was at its thickest. With 80-grit and 320-grit paper, and a firm longboard, I spent most of my time hand-sanding the raised nonskid portions of the deck first, and then moved to the space between - the ultimate location for the foredeck cleat.  Upon vacuuming the powdery remnants, I noticed but just a few pinholes that required further fairing work.  

After I finished the foredeck, and felt comfortable with its appearance, I turned my attention back to the cabin sole.  In the previous session, I filled the weave in after blending the newly laid layer of 1708 biaxial.  Both with the RO sander and by hand, I brought the surface and radius transitions to fair with the surrounding surfaces.  Like the foredeck, there were just a few areas requiring some work to fill the pinholes prior to paint. 

While I was working on the interior, I came across a weak area outboard on the starboard side of the v-berth.  There was likely a previous repair done to this area, but one that was not as thorough as it should have been.  With the owners of Joule napping at anchor, it would have been a matter of time before the new paint revealed a significant crack in the topskin.  I removed a small section of the topskin, careful not to push through the entire liner, and removed the brittle material.  I then sanded a taper around the opening to accept an epoxy application.  The size of the repair did not necessitate recording and laying up of a new topskin, and to that end I prepped for epoxy work.  I vacuumed the loose material and dust, wiped the interior as well as surrounding surfaces with solvent, and then mixed an ounce of neat epoxy.  I thoroughly wetted the original core and liner, and then applied thickened epoxy to the opening.  I forced material firmly into the void, and with a squeegee applied enough material which would enable me to quickly sand down to a fair surface.

While inside, I also addressed the spot-fill areas - mostly not the liner and which represented old fastener holes for the VHF and a shelf installation.

I then highly sanded the bilge and locker spaces below the v-berth and under the port and starboard settees; I vacuumed and solvent-washed the surfaces to prep for the next round of paint (sorry, no photos).  With all of the prep work complete, I moved back onto the foredeck to apply the final round of fairing compound.  In this instance, I used West Systems 410 Microlight, and applied it as a thin layer with a squeegee, ensuring I filled those pinholes. Earlier in the day, I made a slow circle around Joule, making note with pencil-to-topside of the pinholes that required fairing.  I marked the locations by circling them, and then hand-sanded the smallish areas before wiping the surface with solvent.  I applied a very thin film of neat epoxy to prep for the fairing compound to come.

I then moved below and repeated the same process for the forward portion of the cabin sole.   After finishing up the light fairing application on the cabin sole, I used the balance of the remaining Microlight on the topsides. 

I worked my way around her topsides, firmly pressing the Microlight into the tiny voids.

The Microlight materials sands very easily, as it is meant for non-structural applications.

There are to be another two coats of Interlux PrimeKote applied to Joule's topsides.

With the glass work and painting completed for the day, I could not resist to begin messing about with the teak and what would become the new brightwork.  I had spent some downtime a few weeks ago assigning the various original pieces of brightwork to their new teak boards, and so I culled the port coaming board and its counterpart from storage.  I spent several minutes deciding just how to lay the old board onto the new, so as to act as a template.  The new teak board, while stunningly beautiful, did have a couple areas that I wanted to avoid - a couple knots that may open up over time. So I decided on the best pairing and orientation of template to new stock, and then securely clamped the original coaming board to the new teak board.  I then traced the original board onto the new, providing ample boundary to fine-tune the final shape.

I then inserted a new blade into the Bosch jigsaw and removed the material was needed.  The port coaming is emerging from some gorgeous wood!

Total Time Today: 4 hrs.