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This is the result of beaching on the rocks and oyster
shells. The view is of the starboard bottom exactly at the middle of the boat (the
black line is the join between the fore and aft halves of the boat). The scratches
are all superficial and in the outer layer of epoxy. The fiberglass below is still
intact and untouched. In this case, the additional fiberglass was not necessary. An
epoxy-coated plywood bottom would have done just as well.
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This is where the bow ran over a submerged rock in excess of 6 mph
in a riffle. Here the rock sliced through the outer layer of epoxy and gouged the fiberglass.
It actually tore through the fibers and scratched the final layer of epoxy. But the
armor held. The epoxy was not penetrated and the wood was never exposed.
3 ounces of new epoxy fixed all the damage, and Johncanoe was ready to go on another cruise the next weekend. This shows several things. First, plywood, epoxy and fiberglass boats are tough! Second, you should always have some epoxy on hand, even if you've finished the boat. And third, it's silly to go to the trouble of a mirror-smooth, showroom finish for a boat that you're actually going to use. |