One small area of the hull / deck joint on the starboard side aft near the cockpit had "popped" open last winter. After carefully examining the joint it appeared that no compound was used on the joint when it was constructed. The joint was simply pop riveted together and sealant was placed under the wood cap rail when it was installed.
That would not be sufficient for offshore sailing so I decided to glass the joint along its entire length. The joint was refastened along its entire length taking care not to put a fastener where it would interfere with the genoa track fasteners when it becomes time to install it. The hull above the cove stripe was sanded down to bare glass. The cap was sanded to bare glass and colloidal silica was mixed with epoxy and used as a fairing compound (white areas under the glass).
Biaxial cloth was cut into four inch widths and two layers were applied over the joint using west systems epoxy.
A mixture of West systems 406 & 407 was mixed and applied as fairing compound. The first layer of fairing compound was applied rather thick and once cured was sanded using a six inch DA and forty grit paper.
This method enabled us to get too the final fairing coats very quickly. The next fairing coat was applied very carefully using a magneisium trowel and keeping the lower edge of the trowel held firmly against the top of the cove stripe. The joint is now ready for its first fairing with a long board.
Posts
