Gel coat prep and a flip flop blow-out

Now the hull is sealed (except for a spot on the bow from where the bow handle used to be), so it was time for a good bath. I wanted to see what was a stain and what was just dirt.
It would be Scrubbing Bubbles to the rescue!


























Some use Ajax, which will dull an already glossy finish because it scratches the surface. Some use Comet which not as abrasive as Ajax and they say it's mildly abrasive enough that it can remove mild oxidation without ruining the gloss, sort of like a polishing compound. This doesn't make sense to me. I've felt Comet, polishing compounds, and glaze. Comet is more abrasive than polishing compound that I've felt. Glaze is the step after polishing compound which is finer than polishing compound, is good for the very mild oxidation, and then the next step after glaze is wax. If you wouldn't take a polishing compound to your perfectly glossy finish with very mild oxidation, then I don't think you should take Comet to it either. You could even use a cleaning wax to remove the mild cases of oxidation. Polishing compound would be too abrasive and I believe Comet would be as well. This is all for a finish you're already pretty happy with, but I digress.
I decided to use scrubbing bubbles which won't ruin a glossy finish. I'm positive I don't have a glossy finish, but I've got scratches and gouges and didn't want Comet or Ajax in the cracks making them more difficult to see.

Remember how bad the hull was before? If not, here you go:























































See those spots in the close up of the cracks? These were all over the hull and in greater concentration than what it looks there. There were muddy dog foot prints on the deck as well.


To get rid of said nastiness, just spray with Scrubbing Bubbles and let it sit for a moment.



























Before it dries, rub off with a sponge. The cloudy weather is cooperating nicely. The sun would have dried the cleaner rather quickly.

Then, rinse with copious amounts of water.

I had to wash the boat on the saw horses. When I moved the saw horses to wash under where it had been sitting, it revealed a strip of the nastiness which had previously consumed her.


















Once done rinsing, stand back and bask in the fresh cleanliness that is now your boat.







































































With that complete, I decided to, unconsciously, perform an acrobatic stunt on the patio which involved slipping. Though I did not fall, I did suffer a blow-out on my most favorite pair of flip flops. The thong which goes between the toes pulled out. This is quite devastating to me. One could only be so lucky to find a pair of flip flops with that level of comfort.

Marching onward, despite the blow to my psyche, I decided I could begin to tackle all of those cracks in the gel coat.
Gel coat, in its original form, is too thin to fill cracks. So you have to use the paste. Unfortunately, the paste is too thick to fill the cracks. Your answer is to widen the cracks.
Say what?!
Yes, it has to get worse before it gets better.
You want to widen the cracks to form a valley. You can use a Dremel and one of the stones which comes to a point. Or, you can use a screw driver.
I chose to use a screw driver. Essentially, you gouge the gel coat recalling on all those years of tracing as a child.
Gouge? The Hell you say!
Yes, you gouge your boat. It's gotta get worse before....[trails off into mumbling].

When you have a bunch of areas like this (actual size approximately 7-8" x 2"):





















...and by "bunch" I mean I don't want to count or else I might try and toss the hull off a bridge, it would be in your best interest, should you have a friend who owes you a favor, to round them up and have them help. This is painstakingly slow work. I'll be doing this for days.

In the next picture, half of the top crack has been widened, the other half not (click for very large but very detailed picture). If you look very closely, you can see places where the crack is still there.






















It's slow, and I think tomorrow I'll try the Dremel. Thankfully, I have good eyes. If you have trouble reading this print...





...you'll be in bad shape. As you do this work, you will become very angry because it is so slow. You go off the crack and gouge places that don't need repair. You start to get better, but still it requires a lot of concentration.

And as I became angry with doing this, I caught sight of a trapped bug under plastic I had used to prevent the saw horses from getting soaked with water. And I came to a question about war and peace in the world (the things you learn from bugs, right?) .






















This bug is not designed for peaceful negotiations. If he decides you're a threat, he's not going to sit and talk to you about options. This here is a "bitey bug". He will sting the ever lovin' crap out of you and not consider how much it hurts your feelings.
If the world is supposed to be peaceful all of the times, why are most organisms designed for war, not peace. Organisms only designed for peace do not survive. Is this a sign?

With this "bitey bug", it was either him or me. I couldn't talk him into not stinging me. There would be no negotiations. He was pissed off about being caught under the plastic and I was pissed off about gouging my boat as well as him taunting me with is stinger like "Here, land on this you jerk".


That's all there is today. It's time for lunch.

"The belly rules the mind." -Spanish Proverb

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