Folks, a few weeks ago, I asked some questions about the deck on my Outer Island (splotches left by Durhams Water Putty and Rit Dye). I got lots of good advice and points of view. After considerable thought, I've decided that I just simply can't live with the deck the way it is. Simply put, it's not pretty and I'm not proud of it, so I'm going to take the time to fix it now rather than later.

Yesterday, I glassed the interior of the deck to give it some additional support while I sand the glass off the exterior. I tested the sanding in the area that will be cut out for the cockpit, and (like many of you said), it wasn't that tough, and the epoxy didn't soak in deep enough to make me worry about grinding right through the deck.

I did the little test patch in under two minutes, but wasn't all that careful since it will be cut out for the cockpit anyway. As a result, I'm simply guessing that on the conservative side (or is this too optimistic?), I can have the glass removed on Saturday, and the deck reglassed on sunday (assuming my free weekend stays a free weekend).

I still have some fears about screwing it up even worse than it is now, but if my test patch is any indication, it should be fine as long as I keep the sander moving and use a light touch.

Anyway, just wanted to share that with you guys.

Rick

PS - Based on all the lessons I've learned so far, I'll bet the next boat will be built in 50% of the time it's taken me to do my first one!