I spent a few hours Saturday after returning from attending to family matters out of town, and focused my efforts on opening back up the four thru-hull openings located in the cabin: head discharge, head intake, and the two galley openings. In a previous work session, I prepped the interior surface of the hull at these locations and applied two layers of 1708 biaxial glass as both a fresh foundation for the TruDesign thru hulls, but also to create a bit of additional hull thickness as directed in the install literature provided by TruDesign. In addition to these two layers of 1708, I will also be bedding in a backing plate of G-10 in a yet to be determined thickness.

To start, I used an appropriate diameter hole saw to reestablish the thru-hull opening - these varied by the specific thru-hull location. I then used some rough-grit paper to fine-tune the opening and to abrade the exterior surface of the hull surrounding the thru-hull opening. After a cleaning with acetone, I mixed a small cup of West System epoxy and thickened it with 410 micro-light. These fairing compound was then applied to the exterior of the hull surface as well as spread around the solid laminate surface of the interior of the holes. Later, this will be cleaned to remove amine blush and then sanded to fair; the fairing compound will be covered by the future application of bottom paint, hiding the fairing compound in full.

Before the afternoon rain storms rolled in, I used the balance of time for the day to apply the remaining Total Boat epoxy barrier coat paint - using in total 3 gallons on the hull of Somerledi.

Total Hrs: 3