I got in another good day of glasswork on the 20 yesterday.
I pulled off the weight to reveal the new, dry plywood. It seems like i got a pretty good bond and i could walk up and down each side without any flexing.
My previous trip home, i had already cleaned up the top skins, so i went ahead and glued them down. We had it roasting in the shop so i did one side at a time because we were short on cinder blocks.
While that side was setting up, my next order of business was the fuel tank hatch. This thing weighed a ton.
I set the depth of a skill saw to 1/2" and ran down the hatch in cross hatched lines, and then we started chiseling it all out.
It was extremely wet (not rotten) stinky, heavy plywood in there.
Once the hatch was all cleaned up, i set it by the wood stove to dry out for an hour or so. I hit the underside with the grinder, then some 40 grit sand paper to scuff it up. I cut out some new plywood and glued it down
AFter a couple of hours i pulled off my weight to check out my new deck. Seems like i got good adhesion and the deck seems nice and tight.
I filled the seams with thickened resin
I got both sides glued back down, let them sit for a couple of hours and pulled the weight to check it out. Here's my new deck
At this point i have used 3 gallons of polyester resin. The deck project came out pretty well. My next trip i need to grind the seam and i will seal it up with a 3-4" tape and glass it down. After some sanding, fairing, and fresh non-skid i don't think you will ever be able to tell it was done. I hope to also get my tank hatch underside glassed. As much as i don't want to do it, i think i am just going to have to bite the bullet, sand, prep, and shoot the inside of the hull with a fresh paint job. It's just going to be much easier with it taken apart. The boat is so much smaller than the 23 it shouldn't be a terrible job.
I have to imagine that i've gotten rid of 100 pounds of wet plywood on this boat, possibly more. The tank hatch weighed probably 100 pounds before and i could pick it up with 1 hand after. Same story with the deck.
I've got a week off at the end of the month and i hope to make some big strides on the project. Be nice to have the boat in the water by summer.
-Mike