epoxy pon me

Epoxy is fun. It's like play-doh for grown-ups. I've used it in tiny batches before, but never in large amounts or with fillers. Fun stuff.


Mixing up the first batch.



Be sure to measure carefully. I have big bottles of resin and hardener that you measure using pumps. It's a 2 to 1 ratio so 2 pumps of resin to 1 pump of hardener. The first time you use the pumps, be sure to not count that first bit that comes out on the the first pump. You want 2 FULL pumps of resin to 1 FULL pump of hardener. Mixing epoxy is an exact process. Measure properly the first time and save yourself a lot of trouble later.

Once your epoxy is mixed, the clock starts ticking. Pot life and cure time depends on several factors including the type of epoxy you use (slow or fast curing), the temperature (the hotter it is the faster it cures) and also how the epoxy is contained after it is mixed. Epoxy is exothermic so the more surface area that is exposed to air, the longer the mix takes to cure. If you leave the epoxy in the mixing container, it will heat up very quickly and can not only become combustible, but will also cure too fast. To lengthen cure time, spread it out like butter. I like to use pieces of cardboard for mine.


Once you have it thoroughly mixed you normally want to wet out the area you'll be working with.



Then add filler to thicken it for filleting.



The amount and kind of filler depends on the application. You'll need a peanut butter consistency for overhead or vertical areas, but not so thick for making fillets, finishing or bonding things. I needed a mix for filling some gaps and making fillets, so I used microballoons and mixed them until I got a good mix that wasn't too soupy but still thick enough to hold a shape.


Making a fillet.



Because epoxy cures so quickly you normally only mix a small batch at a time. Once you're done, you have a few choices. The easiest is to continue with another batch right away, or you can wait until it gets to a rubberry consistency and then add more epoxy. As long as the epoxy you just laid hasn't cured it will still bond chemically with new epoxy. However, if you wait until the epoxy has cured completely (usually about 24 hours) then you will have to sand or grind to get the new epoxy to stick. Once epoxy has cured it loses the ability to bond chemically with fresh epoxy, so you have to provide a mechanical bond by sanding or grinding, thereby providing a way for the fresh epoxy to 'key' into the old epoxy.


Ha! I sound like I know what I'm talking about.

Phase 2 - complete!

Most important things first...


On vacation I discovered a favorite new beer:


LANDSHARK!





Is very tasty. :)


Between family medical emergencies, work and vacation...we've not had much time to work on the boat lately. Managed to turn that around a bit this past weekend and we got some major "Mo" going now. It's a good feeling. :D


Prepping for the last bit of grinding calls for baby powder so the fiberglass doesn't stick to your skin as bad.








Unfortunately, we ran out of regular baby powder before we were thoroughly coated, and all I could find was some perfumed powder that was really old. Ew. We reeked of little old lady perfume and fiberglass dust. Not a pleasant combo.



(yeah, ran out of Landshark, so back to the old standby of Miller High Life)


So phase 2 is complete! FYI - Phase 1 was the first big project we did, which was to reseal the hull-to-deck joint. Phase 2 was to pull out everything rotten from the aft section of the boat. Grind out all the old glass that was holding in all the rotten pieces. Remove the damaged bulkheads, berth tops, cockpit drain, keel winch support and the rotten keelson/stringer. After what seemed like MONTHS of nothing but grinding, we finally got all the grinding done for the aft section late yesterday. Next up is a serious cleaning and then a major wipe down with acetone. Then on to Phase 3, which will be rebuilding all that stuff we just removed. I'm really looking forward to this next part as I suspect rebuilding will be a much more rewarding job than tearing it all out.


Then of course, after we rebuild the aft section, we have to start all over again with the forward section. But it should be in better shape than the aft was (fingers crossed).


Hope to be done coating myself in baby powder and dressing like the Michelin man for awhile. Just need gloves and the respirator for epoxy work! :D


Plan to get the cleaning/acetone wipe down done this week so that we can start actual repairs this coming weekend. Yay! Am stoked! Also still need to order a cockpit drain and the douglas fur needed for the keelson and keel winch support.


Go with the Mo!

have you got your epoxy? cause I got my epoxy

All 1.5 gallons of it. And pumps too, for easy meaasuring.


Epoxy is fun. :D

cockpit drain removal or HOLES IN YOUR BOAT!

Wow. We were really dreading the whole cockpit drain removal. I guess it's because it's a hole in the bottom of the boat. And holes just don't seem like things you'd want to find in your boat. But indeed, they have their place and purpose. I think the scariest thing about removing the cockpit drain was just not knowing exactly how you remove something like a cockpit drain. Trust me, there are no instructions on the internet. The best you can find is something along the lines of "....and then remove the cockpit drain. Now that the cockpit drain is removed you can begin....." That's about it.


So, here it is....the cockpit drain that we want to remove. Having no clues, we had to up and figure it out on our own.





We figured out this much: it would take some kind of wrench on the top part, from inside the boat, and some kind of wrench or tool on the bottom part, from underneath the boat.


The bottom looks like this.





A standard plumber's wrench would work on the top part, but with those weird keyholes in the bottom I was not sure how we'd be able to unscrew the whole contraption.





Old bike tool to the rescue! I found an old Park bicycle tool that I'm not even able to indentify. It must have been for some old, obscure parts, because I've been working on bikes for years and have never had a need for it. It was one of those that came with a bunch of tools a friend gave me. Well, now it's the official "cockpit drain removal tool." Hell to the yeah! :)


So, the next question is would it come loose easily, or would we tear up the boat trying to get it apart?





No worries....came out easily.





And I know exactly why it came out so easily....one word...one dreaded word for boat owners....





It was sealed with SILICONE.


Who in this world actually thinks silicone is for a below-the-waterline seal? The previous owner of my boat, that's who.


Once it came out, the last bit of keelson could be removed. Nasty, eh?





And all the fiberglass around the thru-hull (hole) was just perfect.


Nice job, Pam (inside the boat).





Nice job, Karen (underneath the boat).

sometimes beating things with a hammer works

The removal of Wahoo's rotten, or semi-rotten keelson has been a tough task. It's only rotten from the cockpit drain thru-hull about halfway up to the transom. The rotten stuff came out easily, naturally. The not-so-rotten wood? Well, not so easy. First, it's encased in fiberglass and polyester resin, and that stuff is hard. Had to cut the glass out first with the dremel.


Then....





Yeah, that did it. Beating the crap out of it with a hammer actually worked. Took about 3 hours total to get it all out and sanded down.


Here's what it looks like sans keelson.





VICTORY! :D It's a wonderful feeling to have it all out finally.


Boat work is in full swing now. It's warming up, and I'm motivated like never before.