Day 40 Fiberglass!

We finally went at the fiberglass that's been waiting for a month.  The temperature needs to be 60 so they say to do it.  It's been 60 maybe three times since we got here.  Two of those days were 95 but we didn't know we needed to do fiberglass repair work at that time.  The forward head sewage tanks had burst a seam and we had been merrily pumping sewage into Zephyr's bilge.  Took us a day or so to find the problem but once we did, we sealed off the crack--God bless duct tape--and stopped using the head.  Today, it may have gotten to 57 but it had to be done.

As you can see from the picture, to do this kind of thing, you have to wear lots of protective clothing.  I bought a special suit to wear and a face mask and started in.  First, you have to clean the outside of the tank--acetone--takes off all the oils.  Then wash it to take off all the dirt.  Then sand(this is the ugly job) it to get off all the paint.  Then acetone and wash again.  Mix up the resin and hardener in a cup and brush the liquid resin on the tank like thick paint.  Put on the fiberglass--looks like fabric that you cut to the size you need.  Push it into the resin(wearing gloves) you have already painted on and brush on another layer of resin.  Let it harden for about 3 hours and do it again.  I wanted at least 5 layers of fiberglass fabric and resin to make sure it is sealed really well.  I don't want that stuff coming back into the boat.  Did it three times over the afternoon.  The only way I was going to get anywhere near 60 degrees was to close the hatch over the area and let the sun heat the space where the tank is.  

By the end of the afternoon, the resin had hardened and the patch should be solid in a day or so.  It takes a while for the resins to fully cure.  Especially since it still isn't at 60 degrees.  I'll try pumping water into the tank Tuesday. Should be cured by them.  It will be nice to get a second head working again.

Tomorrow, depending on the weather, either off to Portland to get the battery charger serviced or start installing the DuoGen on the stern.  Our lives and projects revolve around the weather here. Nice days allow us to get lots more done than rainy days and there have been far more rainy days than sunny days.  You take what you get and do as much as you can. There is always some thing more to do--inside or out.