Fiasco 2.0 – An Epic Tale of Repair (Part 2 of 2)
We finished repairing the first hull a few weeks ago…taking it from this:
To this:
So, it was now time to tackle the other hull – which we had so thoroughly holed during our inaugural sail (Click here for the Fiasco)…
Just as we had done in the restoration – the first order of business was was to pull out the jigsaw, cut a big freakin’ hole around the smaller hole, and start filling everything back in…
We used the exact same technique as before, building a backer plate for the hole and epoxying it to the inside of the hull so we could lay up new glass over that and ensure a strong set-up.
You’ll be impressed to know that this hull was NOT the side we had repaired previously during the restoration. This had been one of the crappy patches that came with the boat. But we’d left it since it wasn’t quite as bad as the one we re-did. Of course, because we kind of rock at this…our patch held up to the rock-bashing perfectly, while this one cratered.
After the epoxy for the plate set up, we glassed over it with 4 layers (for a total of 8 layers) then started filling in with fairing mix (with a couple more layers of glass thrown in for kicks)…
Then came the sanding and painting…
Okay, sure, this looks pretty awesome from 10′ away (which has always been my main goal) – but our previous patch work had been seriously awesome from only a few inches away. We were getting pretty good at this.
However, as I was painting this one, I noticed some imperfections that I hadn’t seen in the dark fairing mix…
(Note the “too rounded” edge at the repair.)
(Note the slight “dent” at the forward edge of the repair.)
But was I about to re-sand, re-fill, re-sand, and re-paint? Heck no! This part’s under water for crying out loud! So, I blew it off and called it DONE!
Now it was time for me and the boys to put the old girl back together…
These guys are naturals (and really cheap)! Just a bit more assembly and Fiasco’s ready for another go. The plan is to take her out on New Years Day if the weather cooperates.
IT WILL BE EPIC! SO STAY TUNED!