Stinking of polyester

The cockpit sole getting plastic pipe and glass reinforcements and gel coat patch up. The rudder pintle brackets have squashed the foam core of the rudder so over size drill out and epoxy fill for refitting with non collapsable epoxy support.

The workshop feels like a boat yard

Heating

Will the eberspacher heating air duct fit through here? Fitting a powerful heater pointing directly into the galley i hope will be a good political move.

Fuel gunk and inspection hatch

The fuel tank was full of 34 years of gunk and having had a hole cut out of the top a good cleaning was required and the new inspection hatch fitted.

Below water line prep

Scraping and sanding of the old anti foil before trying out the copper coat on the rudder. The copper coat man said its all every speck to be removed, so its more sanding for tom and the epoxy lay protecting against osmosis will have to be re applied. Oh the joys of plastic

New bit of wood

Companion way timber replaced old one had split. Still fighting the weather to work up the layers of varnish.

Gelcoat sanding

Spent most of friday sanding and polishing the cockpit gelcoat repairs. Not the most inspiring activity but i hope it should have stopped many of the deck leaks and should last a long time.

Cockpit drains replacement

With some gymnastic effort and now skin full of glass dust crawling under cockpit sole, i have undone the cockpit drain skin-fittings. And what a mess they are. Who fitted them with those rough burs has no sense of craftsmanship.

Cockpit gelcoat holes cracks

Well finally put my late fathers Dremel tool to a good days use, grinding all small cracks out of gelcoat in the cockpit. All filled in with my colour matched polyester goo. Have the joy of wet sanding it all smooth then shiny, then buffing it oh my the joy of plastic.

Depressed

Last night i went through my emails to find the new volvo penta engine can not be delivered until July, was expecting it late next week. Bit of a blow to my enthusiasm, i can wait and when i look at the schedule of works i can put it at the end and it only delays the job 3-4 weeks.

World of goo

Repairing holes in the gas locker door i am learning lots about polyester gelcoat colour matching, application and curing. This repair is curing under coat of polyvinyl alcohol.

Skin fittings

Now i have them out i have to find replacements, plastic or bronze and why can i not find bolted flanged hull fittings? 1/3 of insurance claims of sunk recreation boat are due to failed skin fitting?

Goo

The world of goo is go. Steep learning required but now getting there online tutorials and reference books have been my bed time reading for some time now.
This gas locker cover is ginny pig heres hoping the polyester gelcoat cures well and sands and polishes out ok. Colour matching not easy.