Now on to the final sanding of the bottom before the graphite/epoxy coat. Generally done with 80 grit on the belt sander. Edges by hand

 

 

An hour of so of sanding revealed some low spots thoughout the weave (mainly in the 300g cloth - the 124 faired much more easily on epoxy application), and the edges of the cloth around the keel fillet reinforcements also need fairing a little more, so with the outside temp forecast to reach a roasting 7 Celcius today, I decided to go for it.

 

Firstly with FLAG/medium hardener and a thickened mix with a little graphite as an identifier, then with LV and 25% graphite powder loading rolled over the top of that. (No piccies,as I don't want to cover the camera in epoxy!!)

 

The pencilled waterline was masked first, and off I went. By the end of the day (5pm) I reckon it was about 4 Celcius, so  I had to warm the epoxy on the roller tray frequently to get it on fairly smoothly.

 

Overall, I think another coat will now be necessary but for now, here we are:

 

Closer inspection shows why I think another coat will be required - but maybe the gloss effect of the wet epoxy is highlighting more irregularities than will be seen when dry:

 

 

This March hasn't been the warmest we've had, so things are a bit behind now. The epoxy failed to flow, so it was rubbed back and some of the more obvious low spots filled again:

 

 

 

One day of temps around 12 allowed me to get the starboard side of the hull re-coated with much better results:

 

 

 

but even here, the humidity has led to a slight bloom in the finish. Fortunately, as I plan to matt the finish down with scotchbrite or wire wool, this won't be an issue. The glossy spot was the result of using a heat gun to allow the epoxy to flow back after removal of a particulary big inclusion, but obviously helped cure the epoxy locally & prevent the bloom:

 

 

Reducing temps mean that, once again, the rest of the epoxy application will have to wait til next month, but the rudder bushings have arrived & Andrew of Prolong Oils has machined the rudder stock to my requirements, so I can carry on with that