9. One week to launch - still not satisfied with the look.

7/14/2008: Now that the deck was securely fastened (from the inside) to the hull, it was time to glass the outside. I was immediately presented with a problem though because I had used up all the fiberglass cloth that Pygmy had sent me when I redid the section of hull that hadn't cured.

I was basically out of cloth.

No problem, I thought, I'll just leave work early one day this week, stop by my trusty boat supply store (Fisheries Supply) and pick up some more fiberglass. Cloth is cloth right?

Isn't it amazing how many lessons we learn when we're working on projects like this? Well, you guessed it, the fiberglass cloth they sold at F.S. was not the same as Pygmy; it didn't turn completely clear when you wet it with the epoxy. You can kind of see it in this photo - the transition from clear to visable white-ish weave.

You can see it a little better in this close-up. The weave is obviously not turning clear.

Allan was still helping me with the boat, so I showed him the difference between the two areas on the deck. He thought it might turn more clear if I applied another coat of epoxy - or he said I might try adding a pigment to the epoxy to cover it up. I just loved the natural wood color though and I wasn't willing to settle for covering it up.

First, I had to make sure I could get more cloth from Pygmy in time. I checked on their website and sure enough they sold it. It turns out they buy some special figerglass cloth and supervise the production runs to ensure it is the highest quality (they make sure it will turn clear). I order it and then call them to make sure I can get it shipped quickly. The support person I talked to said they can ship it UPS ground and I'll get it next day. PERFECT. They saved me.

Then I made my next decision. Let's do this right - so, over the next two evenings (5 hours total) I used the rotary sander and sanded off the layers of epoxy and the bad fiberglass . . . all the way down to the wood!!

There were only 4 days left until my planned launch (my wife's birthday - 7/20) and I was redoing the fiberglass on the deck?

Yes, at this point I knew I was crazy - maybe it was all the fiberglass and epoxy dust? (Actually I was extremely careful throughout this sanding process - always using a high-quality 3M mask and googles.) Fiberglass does make you itch though and I had to be sure and vacuum myself off and then thoroughly wash off in the shower. Nonetheless, I was sure it was going to be worth it.

Sanding like this produces a boatload of dust . . . pun intended. ;-) And I ended up burning out my vacuum and having to go purchase a more robust shop vac. That turned out to be a real godsend (and also helped alleviate some of the complaints I was getting from my wife, "You're tracking that white dust everywhere!")

I finally got all the bad fiberglass off - while being careful NOT to sand away too much of my wood. (The plywood is only 4mm thick - so I had to really pay attention.)

The Pygmy fiberglass cloth arrived as planned and I quickly redid that 3/4 of the boat. I let that dry overnight and then Allan was coming over the next evening to help me attach the combings.