[SeaPlusPlus]

WARNING this is a long overdue update and contains more images than should be allowed in a single post, I apologize in advanced for this (but really though, is there every enough boat porn? ).

Boat was brought back to my driveway after taking it over to the painter. He noticed some things that we hadn't seen that needed to be addressed before moving on so to work we went. Some things might have been overkill but better safe than sorry.

For one all the old hardware holes on the cap we had just taped the bottoms and filled with thickened epoxy then faired. He mentioned that he'd seen people do that before and after a while the epoxy shrinks and its visible in the paint job, recommended to grind out a little around them and put a layer of glass on top.





This was loads of fun on the 200 holes in the console.





A drill with a 60 grit wheel on the end was a good tool for grinding out a little square on each hole.



These were then faired and sanded.









Also noticed some spider cracks on the hull sides that we hadn't seen before. These were ground out and then covered with a layer of 1708 and 6oz cloth.





And then faired.





I also decided to switch from the square butt style hinge up front to the strap style hinge. So the recessed hinge cut outs were filled.







Recessed areas also filled on hatches.



I have purchased a new stainless gas fill that has a 3 hole pattern vs the 4 hole of the original. The underside was backed with a glassed piece of 3/8" marine ply and then was filled with epoxy. This sealed the hole well and will provide some meat for the new fill to mount in vs just glass.



Then more of the usual fairing and pin hole filling.









The boat was then taken over to the warehouse to start the paint process. First coat was some Awlgrip Epoxy Sprayable Fairing Compound (which was picked up off the sale rack at West Marine for $13!). This is a very thick (20 mils dry) coat that fills A LOT of imperfections. We spot sprayed the trouble areas on the outside of the hull but my interior has been beat to hell over the past 36 years and it got a complete coat.

Below are some pictures after we'd been sanding on it some.











We sanded that down smooth and then put a coat of Awl-Quik Sanding Surfacer. This is a very pale yellow, but smooth coat that can be used as a surfacer for 545 primer or top coat can be directly applied. Awl-Grip recommends for best distinction of image to use Awl-Quik with 545 on top, so that's what we're doing. The Awl-Quik is currently being lightly sanded with 180 to prepare for 545.

























This is where we stand now, almost done sanding the Awl-Quik. Getting 545 on it this week and hopefully topcoat early next week. Then she starts to get put back together. Which reminds me, I've been picking up boat jewelry since she's close to being finished. The amount has almost tripled since I took this pic but I'll get a more up to date pick once I start putting everything on her. She's getting new stainless EVERYTHING.