New to Me 1979 20 CCP

[mshugg]

After nearly two weeks of traveling and work commitments, I got back to work on the CCP.  I did a final fair on the aft gunwales.  You have to look closely at the photo in my earlier post, but there was a wavering in the outwale.  A little prep, some fairing compound, a little sanding and it"s gone.







I also got a start on the gantries that I will use to flip the boat.  Here is one set of uprights and a beam.  I used double 2x12 lumber with spacers for the beam and the same construction with 2x8 lumber for the uprights. 

[RickK]

Nice work Michael.

[mshugg]

The CCP is now upside down, for the last time in it's life.  Knock on wood.  The setup took longer than the actual flip.  Now I can blueprint and fair the hollows, plus prep and paint the bottom, all while standing upright.

[RickK]

Those gantries look super stout!!  The chain falls make everything so easy.
What did you build to support the boat inside the shed?

[mshugg]

Those gantries look super stout!!  The chain falls make everything so easy.
What did you build to support the boat inside the shed?

It’s back on boat stands.

[mshugg]

I went to work on the hook.  The chines and keel were strait, but there were hollows of about 1/4" in the flat panels aft.  I marked and ground the gel coat off the area.  Then I filled the hollows with from 1 to 4 layers of 1708. 



After cured, I marked the high spots and ground them down to reasonably fair.  I could have been a little more precise in fitting the glass, so it took quite a bit of work to knock things down.  I started using a strait edge and marker to identify the highs.  My 7" grinder with a 40 grit disk made fast work of the rough work.  Then I applied a tracer, and used my long board to mark the high spots.  Then, my 6" DA brought everything close.  There are some hollows of less than 1/16" deep.   







The plan for the next few days clean and prep the bottom.  Then to apply a coat of VC Performance Epoxy, as a primer, between the chines. Next I'll do a final fair with Interprotect Water Tight.  After the bottom is fair it will be three more coats of VC.  This is the prep sequence Interlux recommends for their products.  With luck,  I'll move on to fair, prep and paint the hull sides soon.

[theFunsmith]

Looking good, I am getting excited for you. While mine is under cover for the winter, I have to live vicariously through you guys.

[RickK]

Good progress Michael. Getting a good upper body workout, I remember.

[dirtwheelsfl]

Almost done with the itchy dust!   

[mshugg]

Here's an update on the hull bottom.  The hook is ready to fair, but there are countless tiny voids in the gelcoat.  I can fill them, but every time I sand the filler down more appear. 



After consulting some gurus, thanks dirt, I've decided to sand off the gelcoat on the bottom, and seal with epoxy before fairing the bottom.  It's more work than I'd like, but at least I'm not doing it upside down. 



The glass underneath is clean and looks like it was properly wet out.  That's good news.  There's a good layer of CSM as a print through barrier.

[RickK]

I ran into the same thing and used top end fiberglass bondo. You have to find an automotive supply and talk to them and see if you can get a deal as an "experimenter".

[mshugg]

Thanks, Rick.  Not to sure about Bondo below the waterline.  I’ll probably stick with epoxy, either Jamestown’s Total Fair or Awlfair.  What the hey; it’s only money.

[RickK]

Yup!

[Fish Head]

Hey Mike, U.S. Composites is in your backyard. Their fairing compound to add to epoxy is pretty good stuff and reasonable. $12.25 for 5 quarts! Your progress is pretty awesome and is almost inspiring me to head out to my garage in the 30degree F weather and keep at it, almost! Burrr!I also discovered the same flaky and pitted gelcoat underneath all the bottom paint once removed. Same deal the fiberglass still looks ok once I sanded away the gelcoat, glass not pitted! Cheers T

[mshugg]

Thanks, Fish.  I’ve been getting my supplies from Gulfstream Composites.  Joel Has competitive prices, and he offers free shipping on orders over $200. He’s in Vero, so I even saved freight by picking up my core materials myself.