On Sunday, September 30th, I turned my attention back to the deck.  The initial work I had done removing the flaking gelcoat begged for completion - filling and fairing.  With just this in mind today, I stepped aboard the Westsail with intentions (and tools) to work on fairing the decks in preparation for primer.

     I focused my time on the foredeck and starboard side deck.  I had "tested" a portion of the forward starboard side deck a couple months back - visible in the lower portion of the picture below - and the results were very good.  I was a bit aggressive in the amount of fairing material I used on the test area, requiring a bit more sanding.  I would go into today's fairing work keeping the rule in mind of applying thinner skim coats, and applying subsequent coats if the surrounding surfaces remained proud of the targeted work surface.

     The work progressed relatively well:  wash deck surfaces with water, sand the areas in which the gelcoat had been removed or where the nonskid surface had been removed, vacuum the surface and wash with solvent in preparation for epoxy resin.  Once I had the surface properly prepped, I went ahead and mixed up a batch of the epoxy fairing material.  I am using West System epoxy and fillers for the fairing work. I first painted on a "neat" coat of resin to saturate the work surface and ensure a good mechanical bond.  I then mixed a combination of 406 colloidal silica and 407 low-density filler until I achieved a low viscosity blend.  Using a small squeegee, I applied the filler material over the various areas that required it.  Picture below is of the starboard side of the foredeck.

     Pictured below is the port side of the foredeck.

     Looking aft along the starboard side deck.

     Looking forward along the starboard side deck.

     Aft portion of the starboard side deck, and deck scupper.

Time today: 4.5 hours