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.