Day 325 Filling seams with grout
After 2 weeks of preparation we finally got the sandblaster working, ( more on that later ) just in time to do some filling. Small defects such as under cuts and grinder distortion at the joins can be taken out with filler.  
Some things had to be done first like covering vulnerable polished stainless in areas that needed to be sandblasted for the fill. We decided to take down the welder as it is no longer needed top-sides. It has been up there since the boat was turned over and made a happy landing back on the concrete pad from whenst it came. ( Long photo right )

The "grout" we decided should be the same as the type of coat we plan to use top-sides and on the hull, CeRam-kote 54® which is one tough coating system.

   
We made mistakes though. At about $200/gallon they were expensive mistakes.

We had assumed that it would be like Gelcoat and start to harden after 1/2 hour or so. This was not the case as the temperature outside was 33ºC. Very hot!
The second assumption which was equally annoying was that the consistency would be like a paste, not like thick molasses. Once any thickness was laid on, it had a tendency to run so we kept trowling it back up. These 2 photos show what worked out well over large areas. Notice the reflection of the compressor above.

Luckily we had only mixed half at a time. The first application hardened in about 5 minutes. Way too fast to get anything done.
 
The ugly results of the first batch is shown below where I attempted to fill 3 slight indents in the bulwark rail caused when we were twisting it.
 

I'm confident that the fill won't need fill but there is a lot to grind off (remember I said it is very tough stuff!) and the waste here and what hardened in the buckets was heart breaking. (photo right)

When the second half was mixed, I came up with the idea to put the buckets ( actually they're dubble bubble gum containers Gena has been chewing hard to collect! ) Inside another bucket with ice and water in it, thus cooling the grout some. This extended the time to about 20 minutes. Yay!
We managed to fill the main seam above the water line on both sides and the areas between the aft port lights that had been over ground at that seam. The bottom photo shows the port side seam. It widens out a little because the radius plate joins there had a slight indent. The grout worked well on the seams.

Day 325:
7 hours in hot sun - Sand blasted seams for fill and bow area etc. Applied filler


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