New Work . . .

So pearl is progressing toward an actual launch date. I have a schedule I sent out to friends to get her in the water by early June. So far, I've had some great response. Things are going well. Here is a bit of the highlights.




The blisters have been ground out and are ready for patching. I've purchased all the materials except a few for the bottom job and the blister work. Everything is being done with epoxy.



Good friends have shown up and helped. Here, Platina Dave is helping me sand the bilges and get them ready for paint.


We also got all the tabbing work done that needed to get done. We used high strength structural Woven-Roving cloth to complete all these repairs.


The primer has been applied to the bilges. They are ready for paint.



Here are just a few of many pieces of fiberglass cut out to repair the rudder. I had drilled some weep holes in the rudder to dry it out.


There were a couple floorboards that had minor delamination in the plywood. These have all been repaired with epoxy.


All the floorboard bottoms and sides have been epoxied to provide a water-tight seal. This will guard against any further delamination and mold.


The next steps all have to do with the bottom job. First, the blisters will be filled in and the bottom will be epoxied for a tight seal. Then the fairing will happen before barrier coat. I was talked out of my original method of using 3M high strength marine filler by a 3M representative. So, I've contacted Interlux, Petit and some epoxy and vinylester manufacturers about proper methods. I've chosen one and now I'm ready to go.