working above and below the waterline

Today's efforts were a continuation of yesterday's projects.  I started the day by adding epoxy thickened with a fairing filler to the area around the rudder stock.  This filler is easy to sand and will allow me to return the hull to a smooth surface by sanding the cured epoxy.

While the epoxy cured, I turned my efforts to adding another coat of Brightsides Paint to the mast step and chain plate fittings.  Adding a coat of paint is actually a time consuming process the starts with sanding the area, then wiping down the area with solvent, then wiping the area with a tack cloth, then mixing the paint with thinner to achieve the correct viscosity relative to the temp, then applying the paint, and finally cleaning up the tools.  A few hours of work went into coat number 3.

By the time I finished the coat of paint on decks, the epoxy below the water line had cured.  A few minutes with the orbital sander and the hull returned to a smooth surface.

The next stage in repairing the hull is to add  seven coats of barrier coat.  The barrier coat serves to keep water from soaking into the fiberglass hull. The red bottom paint visible on the majority of the hull serves to inhibit marine growth.

I was able to complete 3 application of barrier coat this afternoon by rolling on the next coat once the epoxy on the hull became tacky.  To keep the epoxy and roller from hardening I placed them in a cooler with ice.  To accelerate hardening of the epoxy on the hull I used a hot air gun to elevate the temperature.  This method allowed me to apply the three coats in about one hour.