April 17, 2018
I love daylight saving time! To meet my deadline for completion of the Dhows, I'm going to need the time post-work. I grabbed a few hours to get the first coat of Interlux Primekote primer on the Dhows. I began by water-washing Sunday's epoxy work, and then took a towel to the hulls to dry them. I wasted no time setting up the RO sander and 80-grit discs to the vacuum and got to work sanding the worked areas. I finished off the fairing task by hand-sanding the areas requiring a bit more precision and patience. With the sanding finished, I then vacuumed the hulls thoroughly and wiped the hulls with a damp towel. I finished the surface prep by removing the balance of the sanding debris (contaminates) by wiping the hulls with a towel dampened with a solvent.
I mixed 12 ounces of the Primekote (3:1 ratio of base to hardener, respectively), and set the sealed container of primer aside. While I waited for the induction period, I took the opportunity to remove a lingering fastener on the transom of the white Dhow. This fastener was one of two securing the aft lifting ring. With the fastener removed, I roughed up the surface under the head of the screw and cleaned it with solvent.
I made my way back over to the shop at just about the time to add the 2333N thinning solvent, at 20%. I outfitted myself with a paint tray and a foam roller...and applied the first of 5 to 6 coats of the primer. I will be hand-sanding between coat to rough up the surface, creating a mechanical bond for the subsequent coat, all the while building up the surface and filling the crazed and cracked hulls. Even with the application of fairing compound on the primary damage areas, there are still very small imperfections that the primer will fill during the build up of coats. Satisfied with the first coat of primer on the Dhows, I set off again for the shop to carry on with the daggerboard trunks.
I roughed sanded the epoxy coated pieces to remove ridges and rough spots, and then assembled the daggerboard trunks after wiping those pieces down to remove the sanding dust. I grabbed the bag of leftover bungs I had made for the brightwork on Joule, and pulled 16 out for installation on the db trunks.
I painted a liberal coating of varnish on the bungs and then hammered them into place. When the varnish has dried, I will remove the proud portion, and then coat the exterior with neat epoxy. After installation of the two trunks in each of the Dhows they will be painted.
Total Time Today: 3.5 hrs
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