Fiberglassing

With the fibreglass in place, we can start applying the resin. The job is to get the resin evenly applied without runs and to get the glass cloth lying nicely on the boat.

Our trusty epoxy mixing machine.

We trim the cloth as we go, once it's all been wetted.

The first coat is on, but it needs several coats of epoxy resin to fill the weave of the fiberglass cloth. If you wait for the epoxy to dry (roughly a day) you'll have to scrub the amine blush off, and then sand it before you can apply the next coat. However you can apply another coat while the epoxy is in the ‘green’ state – started to cure, but not hardened, slightly tacky – or roughly six hours.

And so six hours later the second coat is carefully applied. We've added a little fairing powder to the resin to make it lighter and help full the weave quicker.

As the evening wears on we realise we need to heat the garage. Dad couldn't resist using his new toy.

Eventually common sense prevailed (before everything went up in flames). The fourth coat went on at midnight and the final at six AM.