We love mixing TotalFair, reminds me of kindergarten fun
Use separate sticks to scoop out equal parts of Resin part A and hardener Part B, the a 3rd stick to mix.
We applied TotalFair sparingly to some divots in the repair seam. The epoxy based compound can harden enough for sanding when temp is in the 70s, today it was cooler so we ran out of time before I had to go conquer the skies. Ready to go for next opportunity.
These DeWalt Concealer goggles are great, they fit snug with a soft rubber seal and are big enough to wear cheaters. They don't fog up and they keep dust intrusion to a minimum.
The 1981 AMF Sunfish SALLY provided a lot of hull bits for WAVE and we have a pile of extra bits that will get to mess about on other boats.
We saved some chine and flange sections fro SALLY, those are hard to build from scratch and are very important parts of the Sunfish design. And a bow handle backer block, not sure yet what we'll do with that.
Thank you SALLY, we are excited about sailing with your spirit onboard your sister ship WAVE.
We considered several shapes for the bow stem on MARGARET ROSE, and settled on hybrid shape that drew elements from our Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES' stem and the stem on our O'Day Day Sailer II CYANE. CYANE's bow is what Capn Jack called a Destroyer bow, almost plumb and full at the foot, so we used the upper 2/3 for that shape and used the quick run to horizontal from the Penobscot stem.
Cut the shape of the inner stem out of pattern plywood with our DeWALT 20V jigsaw, it still purrs like a kitten.
Smoothed the edges to get rid of splinters and sanded off the multiple stem shapes we had drawn with a 120 grit disc on the DeWALT 20V random orbital sander.
Clamped the inner stem to the keel to see if we like the fair curves.
The THIXO WOOD epoxy is dry in ZIP's letterbox repair backer plate, and while we tried to clean up most of the squeezeout when we installed it there are a few blobs that we missed. We used the DeWALT oscillating multitool to trim out the bead, a half circle head gave best control with minimal area contact for most of the trim, and the straight mettal cutting blade was used in the corners. We use metal cutting blades on our wood boats in case we find a hidden metal fastener.
Next we dry fit the patch, used a thumb plane to take down high spots the 120 grit discs on a DeWALT Random Orbital Sander to get the patch flush with the deck. The Porter Cable cordless vac was hooked to the sander dust port to help keep dust down and for general cleanup.
WAVE has a few areas of fiberglass damage, some will require that blind hole patches be installed inside the hull, where the area is not accessible from the other side. To do this we followed the LASER PERFORMANCE Repair Manual and made blind patches, they are inserted through the hole in the hull, pulled snug against the inside of the hull with strings and tied off until the epoxy dries.
WAVE has crushed fiberglass on her chine that will need to be removed and replaced. We'll file it out with a diamond file.
There are a couple of spots where there are gelcoat cracks, we'll skim over those with a sealer coat of thickened epoxy.
I made a mistake installing a transom drain plug, the plan is to repair the transom and get rid of the big hole at the waterline.
Aft keel.
Bailer hole.
A walkaround.
Good shop tables are hard to find!
We filed out the broken fiberglass bits, then sanded the edges with 60 grit on a DeWalt random orbital sander, hooked to a Dust Deputy cyclone and ShopVac. We taper the edges down so that fiberglass cloth can be overlapped. Protective gear includes a hat, goggles, respirator, gloves and a long shirt.
The starboard forward block is loose, we'll push it back in to place after the bottom is fixed.
The center forward foam block is in good shape.
We get a lot of our supplies from Jamestown Distributors, and they picked us to be on their Ambassador Team. We use their TotalBoat products alot and like them, they ship free and the cost is low. They provide some of the products free for us to use, we like that, especially the THIXO, very happy with its performance.
We also like to take the shipping boxes and repurpose them, today this box will be cut up to make up a blind patch.
The blind patch consists of a cardboard backer, that helps keep the woven roving fiberglass cloth stiff. The entire patch gets saturated with thickened epoxy, strings pull the patch flush against the inside of the hull.
We put copious amounts of TotalBoat THIXO on the cardboard, then lay the woven roving fiberglass cloth over the top of that and press the cloth down into the THIXO.
More THIXO is dispensed onto the blind patch.
The patches are inserted into the hull and pulled tight against the inside, tied off with the strings to keep the backer in place while the epoxy dries.
Added THIXO to the edges of the bailer hole.
We might try something different, use a thick layer of THIXO to replace the fiberglass cloth. I'll have a better idea when I sand the repair.
