Esper Refit 20 – West System 410 Microlight for osmosis

The osmosis treatment continues with West System 410 Microlight applied to the hull. Pong, head carpenter, begins the task of shaping the toe rail whilst trying to maintain the bend in the wood!

Weekly Video Round-Up

Now that Jamie’s back in the UK this week’s clip was filmed entirely by Liz. She was so keen she uploaded over an hour of footage that Jamie struggled to edit down to 20 minutes. It’s our longest clip yet but it’s all good…

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Osmosis Treatment With West System Microlight 410

Time for more icing sugar. This time we’re mixing West System’s Microlight 410 balloons to our epoxy and applying over the top of the biaxial fibreglass. It’s a process that has to be done quickly before the epoxy dries, and it’s put on like icing sugar.

After the epoxy has dried, it’s sanded back before the pits and dents are filled once more.

Toe Rail Fitting

The toe rail has been put under weights for over a month now, so the teak is nicely bent to shape. Now Pong must try and keep the bend and fit each piece. Remember we no longer have one continuous toe rail. Instead we’ve broken it up.

The toe rail also requires around 70 bolts, which are being made to measure by the stainless workshop.

Swim Platform Template

Pong’s also been busy with the swimming platform. He’s cut a template out which will give the stainless guys a template to work from, as well as a guide for himself when he comes to cut the planks.

Fridge Door

One of the annoying features of our main fridge door was that it was divided in two, allowing you to open one side or the other. This was completely impractical so we’ve stuck it together by epoxying teak struts across it.

Eventually it’s fared and will then be filled and painted too.

Wilson Art Thick Laminate

The fridge door will eventually have a thick 8mm laminate put on top of it. This will be the same laminate as the galley sinks and also the heads floor too. It’s made by Wilson Art, the same manufacturer as our wall laminate, and is designed for hard-wearing surfaces. It’s a mock soap-stone effect and looks rather splendid.

Electrics

Dean, Sombat’s assistant, has begun feeding the light cable through the ceiling and bulkheads. He’s got his work cut out for him but he’s taking each section at a time.

Paint Team On The Deck

The paint team, having completed the topsides, are now working on the deck. That includes that cockpit box that has now been filled with microballooned epoxy and will be fared into shape. More on that in the video.

What’s Next?

Difficult to know what with me being thousands of miles away from the project but I suspect we’ll see that hull sanded back in preparation for the Jotamatic 87 application. The paint team should almost be ready to apply the top coat of Awlcraft Snow White and I’m hoping that toe rail will be near completion too.

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