Continuing with the prep for paint - both the mast and the boat - I sanded the prior day's fill workin the cockpit, as well as progressing to the mast. In the previous work session, I had sanded and filled low spots where the old fasteners secured the cockpit's brightwork (coaming boards, seat trim, aft bulkhead trim, etc.). On arrival today, I got some water and a scouring pad in order to remove the amine blush that formed on the surface of the epoxy-based fairing filler (TotalBoat's TotalFair product). With the surface contaminate removed, I then proceeded to sand the filler areas to a fair surface through 60, 80, and 150-grit discs, by hand and by machine. The sanding was straight forward, with a couple places requiring more precise work. I cleaned up the cockpit and decided to move on to the mast.

The mast is suspended between two saw horses and had two coats of aluminum primer. I procured a few sheets of 320-grit paper and by hand made my way down the length of the mast, sanding just the port side, or half, of it. The two coats of primer resulted in very good coverage save for the few areas where I burned through with a heavy hand. I spent a majority of the time today slowly working down the length of Biscuit's stick applying firm pressure and was able to sand to a very smooth and textureless surface. Again, a couple areas required me to come back with a bit more primer. I mixed a small batch of the two-part primer and set it to the side to allow for the induction period. While the paint was doing its chemical thing, I headed out to the mast to wipe it down with a solvent. With the mast clean and the fifteen minutes up, I gathered the primer and a foam brush and painted over the exposed aluminum in areas I felt needed a bit more primer.

Looking to get a first coat of finish paint on in the coming week,

Totak Hrs: 3.25