Dodger time

Since we are staying the winter I’ve decided to start in on many of the maintenance items on the “B” list of jobs that have been hanging around for years. First on the list is the delaminating problem on the top of the hard dodger. The top is made of wood but it’s covered over with fiberglass and paint. The paint has gone bad and areas of the fiberglass covering have delaminated from the underlying wood substrata. All I have to do is replace some fiberglass and paint it… easier said than done!

First, I had to make an enclosure to keep rain off me.

Wee look like refugees from a hurrican

 Next, you have to remove every bit of hardware on the dodger.

Then you “sound” the dodger top and marking off the “loose” area. (To sound an area you tap it and listen to the sound, you can tell by the difference if it’s hollow or not).

The dashed line is the point where the sound changes indicating a loose area.

Then you cut out the bad with a vibro saw.

 

As you can see, there was a bit of trouble under the fiberglass

Afterwards comes the first coat of epoxy to seal the wood and then a coat of fairing material to bring the bad areas back even.

 Next, Fiberglass.