Progress Since Last Post

 This Lewmar 20 Ocean Hatch has a major amount of crazing in the acrylic.  A couple of firms advertise online to repair just about any hatch at much less than the replacement cost of a new one.  I sent an email off to both firms.  One responded and quoted me a price just about the same that it will cost me for a new one online, including shipping!  The other firm never responded to my email.  Guess what I will be doing?  That's right, buying a new one to replace this one.

 Looking straight down on the port forward wing locker, you can see how I am adding the 1/4" inch of epoxy filler to extend the edge of the plywood all in plastic to avoid the wet rot I had before. Using a piece of scrap wood, I put on 3M 471 tape and make a channel for the bog. If you look carefully at the top edge in this photo, you can see one of the completed edges of the deck plywood and bog combination.  Once the edge is painted, it will disappear and not be visible all the while it is protecting the edge of the plywood from moisture penetration.

The first step was for  my wife and me to add about 1/4" of bog to the wet locker hatches. Next, I routered the edges out on the deck around the wet locker, and this photo shows how I have added the 1/4" back in with bog. Thanks to Mark Johnson for the tip on using this 3M tape for this type of operation.  It is expensive but does the trick.  It reminds me of electrical tape in blue.  I wonder if electrical tape will do as well at a much lower cost? Hmmmm..., maybe it is time for an experiment. The resin will not stick to either side of the tape once the epoxy has kicked off, but it does need to kick before removal.

 Here is another picture of the process in two of the self-draining wet lockers with the scrap wood and tape curing in good sunlight.

 No, this is not graffiti or modern art.  Doreen had gone around and marked areas that need attention with thin fairing or pin-hole filling prior to painting.

More areas needing fairing.

Work has been progressing daily although it seems like not much is happening when on lives with the project.  It is by looking back at photos of a previous state that allows one to appreciate the progress gained.  The goal right now is to get all seven of the self-draining lockers totally mummified in epoxy to avoid the problems of rot we had in the past.  When all the work is done, there will be a layer of fiberglass cloth on all surfaces in the lockers as well as the resin filler around all edges of plywood.  The last step will be to get protective paint on all surfaces to keep the sun off the epoxy.  Once the wet lockers meet our satisfaction, we will continue the ongoing deck preparation for the two-part primer prior to finish painting.

Mark Johnson of Delphys offered another tip I was not aware of regarding the paint.  He said to put a very dark undercoat beneath the top coat of primer.  It is to protect the of epoxy which is damaged by sunlight.  I always thought that just getting paint on the epoxy would be enough.  But I have seen areas where I have only epoxy and white paint not covering any wood such as over an old bolt hole. Looking from he inside out, I can see light through the paint and epoxy indicating light does in fact penetrate the light colored paint.

I am sure I will get some funny looks from folks in the marina when they see the dark battleship gray of the first coat.  " What's that crazy trimaran guy doing?  Trying to be a stealth sailor?" I can just imagine several of them commenting among themselves.  Then when I get a coat of white on, the will realize I wasn't crazy after all (or that Doreen convinced me we should not attempt being stealth sailors).

It is amazing how much work goes into preparation for painting.  We are both getting tired of doing body work, b ut we know that it will pay off when the final coat of paint and non-skid goes on.