We took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather this week to make the new hull ready to splash, including some really rather unpleasant stuff. Let me say up front, I HATE working with fiberglass, and am spectacularly bad at it.
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This is Barrier Coat, a gnarly two part epoxy paint to seal the damaged hull surface. Three coats. |
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Once mixed, you have about 1 1/2 hours to paint it on before it gets too thick, but it hides a host of ills. |
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The worst of it, though, was trying to get the propshaft out so we could address the stuffing box (the part where the shaft goes through the hull). I wound up crawling on my belly underneath the cockpit with an angle grinder to cut off the rusted collar that once connected the shaft to the motor.
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Cleaning out the gutted interior was also a bit of a challenge. |
But the good news is: we've gotten most of it done. As soon as the temps bounce back up a little (today's a bit chilly for the paint to set) we'll do the final barrier coat and slap on some antifouling paint, and then we'll be more or less ready to splash.
Then the REAL fun starts :)
Stay tuned. More adventures abound.
Indiegogo site is still going if you wanna lend us a hand and get some neat custom artwork.
More shortly.
M