Once the outside of the deck was glued together, it was time to work on the inside of the deck. First, thickened epoxy fillets were added to the deck reinforcement plates, and two layers of fiberglass tape were added to the seams. We also made fillet "ramps" in front of and behind the reinforcement panels to make things nice and smooth.
The same thing was done to the deck recess and reinforcement plate, in order to make sure the fiberglass would smooth out over it.
Bumps and drips were sanded/scraped to smooth out the deck, then all of the seams were laminated with fiberglass tape.
The tape was left to get tacky, then the deck was set back on the hull in order to ensure the deck drying in the proper shape. We put plastic over the temporary frames and at the bow and stern ends to make sure the deck didn't get glued on (yet). After curing overnight, the deck was removed, the sharp edges of fiberglass tape sanded, and the deck recess and rear cockpit were fiberglassed (with two layers!). Besides the tape on the seams, this is the only fiberglass that goes on the underside of the deck.
Once the fiberglass on the recess was looking good, the rest of the deck received two coats of epoxy.
Even thought the the decks (well, the undersides, anyway) are officially "done," I think it might still take a little work to get everything nice and smooth. I definitely don't want any little sharp points snagging things inside the boat, so some more sanding might be in order. And thanks to the generosity of the maintenance department, we now have access to a fabulous palm sander! This makes life so much easier...Things are really starting to shape up and come together, but there's still a lot of work to be done.
Stay tuned for inner hull fiberglassing!
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