Thursday, July 31, 2008

Nothing like a little fiberglass dust.


Spent the late afternoon cutting out bulkheads and tabs (fiberglass attachments to the hull) with my trusty Makita grinder. I use a metal cutting disc on the thing and it slices through the glass and resin pretty fast and clean. If there's wood underneath the glass, I use a regular electric saw to cut the wood.

In order to cut down the amount of dust blowing around inside the hull, I use a water hose set to a fine spray to knock the dust down and flush it into the bilge. The problem isn't just the dust that the grinder kicks up, it's also the piles of dust that accumulate in corners, etc. A breeze will lift that stuff up, swirl it around the hull and then it lands on me, finding it's way into my armor and makes my life miserable for a couple of days (and nights). I also use the hose to wash down my body after the work is done- strip to just my shorts and hose off the glass dust before it gets imbedded in my skin. The photo shows that there's only two bulkheads remaining on the starboard side, and those are holding up my shade and crane attachments. The bathtub with come out this week, but right now it's holding a battery bank. Hmmm, this boat is starting to look bigger.

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