The goal for the day was to run over the coachroof and decks with a freshening up sanding with 80-grit prior to priming; however, the "OCD" got in the way. After sanding the poop deck and running my hand over the monotone deck, I could fill irregularities that I could not ignore. Alas, the primer paint would have to wait a few more days. I solvent-washed the poop deck, mixed a batch of fairing compound and applied it with a wide and flexible straight edge. The slight camber of the deck finally appeared perfect and will sand out nicely for final fairing.

I continued on with the sanding, moving from the starboard quarter to the forward decks. I used a combination of the palm sander as well as hand-sanding where necessary. Moving onto the foredeck, I was again presented with the repair area where the foredeck cleat was mounted - a repair I was concerned with for at least its aesthetics. There had been some coring work and fiberglass work done here, but the repair did not blend well into the existing raised portions of the non-skid areas. The photos below show significant undulation in the border of the raised non-skid surfaces - both to port and starboard, Laying out a long straight edge, I marked where the border should be and then used the small Makita finger sander to define the correct boundary of the non-skid surface. The smooth surface between the non-skid areas was also severely out of fair, and so with the sander and a short and long straight edge, I took out the ridges and mostly obtained a fair surface. The fairing compound that I would soon apply would take out the high and low spots and allow me to obtain a fair surface. Hand-sanding would also allow me to blend the raised non-skid surfaces with the previous repair area.

Biscuit came in to the shop with a stainless steel cleat for the single foredeck cleat - an imposter to Cape Dory's original kit. I decided to switch out the stainless cleat for a silicon bronze cleat, and while I was at it I'd go ahead and over-drill and fill the fastener holes for the stainless cleat. Over-drilling would allow me to assess the coring, and so I moved forward with that plan. I used a 3/4" forstner bit to drill through the top skin and the core, leaving the bottom skin intact. I vacuumed up the shavings and sanding / grinding dust and prepped the surface for epoxy by solvent-washing the surfaces. That done, I moved below to remove the backing plate and solvent-wash the overhead. I finished the prep by taping off the fastener holes, from below, in order to prevent epoxy running through.

In the shop, I mixed another batch of fairing compound as well as a bit of non-thickened epoxy to wet out the exposed core and surrounding surfaces. After wetting out the core and deck, I applied the thickened epoxy (the fairing compound) to the over-drilled fasteners holes and the surrounding deck surfaces. The non-skid surface immediately to port and starboard of the cleat were also unfair, so those areas received fairing compound too. My next task will be to fair the poop deck and foredeck with the 6" DA sander and blend repair surfaces with the existing surfaces by hand....and then prime!

Total Hrs: 2.25