DISCOVERIES

We had one day of "mild" temperatures in the fifty degree fahrenheit range. I decide to spend some time in the garage on the never ending struggle to get and keep things organized. I made some progress and discovered some useful things related to the boat. The first were two useful tools for fiberglassing that I had used for a project on my previous boat a 24 foot Bristol. They were a Saturation Roller and a  Corner Epoxy Roller.

The saturation roller needed to be cleaned up a little as it showed  the messy results of my first feeble attempts at fiberglassing back in the 1980's. A few minutes removing the stuck on Epoxy with a screw driver had it good as new again:

Both tools are now reunited where they belong in the bin that holds the Epoxy resins and other tools for fiberglassing. They will be useful if I ever get around to building that dingy I've been thinking about. The other discovery was hidden in an old coffee can on a shelf for decades. It's a small metal vise that looks like it might come in pretty handy on board:

It's old but, still has useful days ahead on board for various projects. Sometimes all it takes is a little cleanup and organizing brings these useful discoveries to light.

WHAT WORKS: PROTECTANT 303

One of the things I do every year  before I launch is wash the hull and apply a product called PROTECTANT 303 to the hull. Some people like to use a wax on the hull and it looks good for awhile and takes a lot of work at least more work than I want to do. Protectant 303 is not a wax and it does not give the same shine. It is as it's name implies it is a protectant. It is designed to protect the hull from the UV rays of the sun. It bonds with the gel goat and really renews the faded blue stripe along the hull. One caveat is that it creates a very slick surface so I never use it on the deck or on horizontal surfaces of the cockpit. You and any passengers will be sliding and slipping all over if you do. This slick coating also allows it to keep dust and dirt from sticking to the hull and so looks cleaner than wax as the season  moves forward.  One thing about it though is it must be applied to a bare hull. Which means if you have previously waxed your hull you need to remove all traces of the wax before you apply the Protectant 303. But, once you do you will save a lot of time. I can apply the stuff to my 30 foot hull in about 45 minutes or less. That works for me I order it by the gallon and that's enough to do my hull for several seasons. I also use it on the hatches and ports and any plastic and vinyl  on board that may be exposed to sunlight for extended periods. 

GOING ELECTRIC: Part 10 Glassing

The extension stringers are in. Now it's time to fiberglass them in place. Here is how the workspace was setup. The precut fiberglass was in the tray on the left and the epoxy was in the tray on the right.

No, this is not me praying before the old Diesel engine. It is Malcom hard at work glassing the stringers in. As you can see this is a one person operation. Preferably one who knows what they are doing which Malcom did. Below is the order the glassing was done:

All Done! Now it's time to let the epoxy set and come back in a few days after it's hardened to move to the next phase of moving to electric propulsion.

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