[Scott]

Hey Ben

I too have that sander and mine came with a 5" pad I think backed with neoprene so to avoid digging into your work if you were not flat against it....I'll look to see if this is true and if you need I will look up the place I bought it off the internet (They sell the 5 and 6" replacement discs for that sander).

The other suggestion that Desperado had about the fairing board is also a great way to get the hull smooth. Like he said get real thin ¼” plywood about 2" wide and as long as you want 12-18" and put a hand hold on either end. 3M sells sand paper at that width in rolls (think west marine has it in their catalog). Then as you look at the hull think of it as the face of a clock and point one end of your fairing board at say 2 the other follows at 8. (your moving in the direction of 2 and 8) Stay on that plane as you work left to right and then switch to 10 and 4 ....this makes your "x" pattern. Get a can of spray paint and lightly spray the hull to get it "Dirty" as if the boat had gotten oversprayed (use a different color from your hull so you can easily see it and don’t spray it on heavy…. just “speckle” the hull with the paint). This way as you sand you can tell where you've sanded and if you have high/low points in the surface of the hull...when the opposing color is gone you should be real close to "fair". I've used it and it works nice ....but it is a lot of work!!!This should work great for the flair in the bow of the boat

Desparado……I hope I’m not putting you on the spot with this question and do not intend to do that….but….I was on your site and I saw the 1972 23 for sale…..curious…you make a comment about “fixing the complaints of the original design….” please share with us what you’ve done and what those complaints were. I have an idea of what your speaking of …..just curious if I’m on the right track. I would really love to see more pictures of that boat!!!!
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