Bit of a milestone

I reached a bit of a milestone this week, and in theory the boat should now float as I have filled all the holes below the waterline. I started the week by sanding the new GRP on the skeg repairs and redundant hull openings and then adding an epoxy fairing compound, a mixture of epoxy and West 407 lightweight fairing filler, which was then left to cure.

Fairing compound applied

Once the fairing compound had cured I sanded it down, the sanding was done free hand but I used a flexible batten laid around the curve of the hull to check the profile.

Fairing compound after sanding

After sanding there were a couple of small areas that needed a further application of the fairing compound where the heads seacock and log openings had been made good.

Finally the last holes below the water line were filled when I fitted the new hull anode there is still some work to be done below the waterline before she can go back in the water, the rust needs to be removed from the keel so that the bottom can be anti fouled and the propeller still needs to be fitted.

New hull anode

To finish up with GRP work for the time being I dealt with a couple of persistent rainwater leaks the hull to deck joint. On the Moody 33 the deck is joined to the hull with pop rivets the join is subsequently glassed over but in a couple of places around the bolts that retain the toe rail there were a couple of annoying leaks. I had tried putting penny washers and Sikaflex sealant under the nuts to no avail and in further investigation found a couple of areas where the glass fibre mat had not been properly wetted out allowing water to leak through. I cut back to sound GRP with a sharp wood chisel and then made good with some glass mat and epoxy resin.

Finally to finish up today I removed the port side saloon window for refurbishment there had been a leak I think between the frame and the coach roof side but while it is out I will reseal the glass into the frame at some time it has been patched up with silicone sealant this will be this weekends homework project. Once the port window has been replaced I will refurbish the starboard one, it doesn't leak at the moment but the seal between the glass and frame is hard and showing some signs of cracking. It is inevitable that once the boat is back in the water and sailing there will be some flexing of the hull which will cause the window to leak.