August 28, 2015
My goal for the evening was to apply epoxy stripper to the port side bottom to assist the effort in taking off the remaining barrier coat. The barrier coat application on the port side was, for whatever reason, reluctant to concede defeat. It appears that it was applied in a few additional coats as compared to the starboard. So, I set out to spend an hour on prepping the port bottom for Saturday and the final pass with the sander to get down to the gelcoat. This task accomplished, I could not resist spending yet another hour on the boat. I decided to dish-out the voids in the laminate causing the dreaded blistering. Using a DeWalt grinder outfitted with a 6", 40-grit flap pad, I made quick work of the areas requiring attention. In fact, I had to check myself a few times as to not get carried away and unnecessarily remove too much material. I ground out the dry and pocketed laminate layers until I reached solid material.
I began on the port aft section of the keel and worked my way forward.
I encountered areas that held voids between the gelcoat and the outer layer of glass, as well as severely cracked and flaked gelcoat.
Most of the issues on the port side were mid-ship and aft.
Turning to the starboard side, I again started at the aft portion of the keel and worked my way forward.
The areas of concern weren't as numerous on the starboard side, and also less severe.
As it was getting late, and with the sunlight all but gone, I decided to knock-off for the evening. I will pick up tomorrow with removal of the remaining barrier coat on the port side, and possibly get in filling some of the voids with a thickened epoxy mixture.
Total Time: 2.5 Hrs.
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