The new shop has quite a bit more than the previous iteration, but what it still does not have is a Travelift, and with Biscuit on her trailer, limiting my access to the forward portion of the bottom (the hull pads block access) and the keel, I scheduled a lift from the good folks at Sadler Point Marine (off the Ortega River, Jacksonville, FL). Prior to delivering her to the yard, it made sense to prepare the bottom to immediately begin barrier coat application and eventual antifoul paint. Having recently completed repairs to the third thru-hull (removal, grinding back a taper, laying up a new laminate schedule, and initial fairing), I wanted to sand all three and apply a final fairing coat. This application off fairing would be with the Jamestown Distributors private label product line, Total Boat Total Fair. The two part fairing compound is similar to using West System thickened with their 410 Micro-Light product. The Total Fair product will be used in several areas across the deck as well, just prior to application of primer. But the immediate focus was the bottom job.

I used the smaller 5" sander with 100-grit pads - having a very light skim coat of cured West System 406/407 fairing compound on the thru-hull patches. I began with a quick water-wash to remove any residual amine, and followed that up with an acetone-wash. The 100-grit pads were on the margin for material removal, but I wanted a more finished surface and so opted for the higher grit. I started on the port side forward, the location of the final thru-hull patch, and worked my way around to the starboard side. Being in the crouched and hunched over position, I took the opportunity to touch up a few other repairs in the vicinity. The winch base deck fastener holes had been previously patched, and I now touched these up with the sander.

With the sanding completed, I wiped the surfaces thoroughly with acetone to removal dust and contaminates, and then set off into the shop to prepare the fairing compound. As mentioned above, the Total Fair product is a two part product, yellow and blue, that when thoroughly mixed turns a solid green. It's an easy product to work with, is epoxy-based, and sands well - perfect for the final fairing application. Again I worked my way around the hull using a larger plastic squeegee and finished up with the winch base fastener penetrations. A quick job, but would save valuable time in the yard.

Total Hrs: 1.25