The removal of the bottom paint began on Saturday, the 14th of March. The intent here is to prepare the bottom of Somerledi for a fresh barrier coat (an epoxy-based water barrier to protect the laminate), and to apply fresh bottom paint to ready her for her new owner. While the bottom is being prepped for barrier coat and bottom, or anti-foul, paint, new thru hulls and seacocks will also be installed.

Arriving at the work yard, I gathered all tools and suited up in full tyvek and respirator, and then picked up the sander, a 6" Bosch with vacuum system, and started removing material at 9:45am. I set the sander back down at 7:00pm....taking a few slugs of water along the way. I was able to remove about 3/4 of the port side bottom in this session. Bottom jobs are right there at the bottom on the list of which tasks are most enjoyable.

The stripping of the old anti-foul paint revealed a previous blister repair - a poor one at that - as well as new blisters forming. The previous repairs show near perfectly round fill areas - likely some polyester-based fill material with no fiberglass laid. I suppose a counterboring bit was used to dish out the blister and then filled. Nearly all of these previously repaired locations had flaking barrier coat around it, helping me to identify them. These will be ground out properly, allowed to dry, and then be filled with a small patch of glass followed by fairing compound. All will be epoxy-based repairs going forward.

I also identified small, new blisters, which will be treated in the same manner. The good news is that the blisters appear to be vary shallow, forming in the first to second layer of laminate. More to come...

Total Hrs: 9.25