23 May 23:
We used a heat gun set on low and a razor blade to remove the old vinyl letters on ANNA's bow. The gelcoat underneath the old letters was protected from UV and is in better shape, the exposed gelcoat has absorbed dirt as well. We sanded with 220 grit on a DeWALT 20 cordless random orbital sander to see if we could remove a thin layer of sunburnt gelcoat and get a better match. No can do good buddy, we got close in a few areas but we could see where the good gelcoat was beginning to thin out and we'd be sanding into the good fiberglass underneath if we continued. Perhaps we'll try TILEX on the brown spots...
Next we turned out attention to the brown spot amidships, whether a light grit sanding (220 or up) will help.
Upon closer inspection we see the effects of moisture, gelcoat aging and shrinking (cracks) and dirt. Gelcoat is much like skin, it shrinks and wrinkles over time, and can be sun damaged. This patch looks like the boat was left in moist dirt for years and experienced decades of freeze/thaw cycles. If left in this state the fiberglass underneath will eventually absorb moisture at a slow rate and be broken down as well.
So we pause on this project for a bit and looked for yaks to shave. "Yak shaving" is an official NASA term for when you start one project but other projects distract while pondering the first. If you remember, ANNA was our yak to shave while we pondered repairs to the Catfish SMEDLEY. Howard Chapelle recommends sitting in "The Moaning Chair" whilst pondering, but we have too many fun projects to sit for tool long.
Speaking of ADHD, or ADHA (Attribute) as we call it, let's expand the Sunfish Shack! More on that in the next post.
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