Jahazi: Fiberglass sheathing of the deck

Introduction

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea"
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

With that in mind one may think that anybody with a passion for the sea can build an ocean going yacht. But be warned! It is not something that can be taken lightly. It takes time and dedication.This project was started in 2004 with the purchase of plans for the Didi 34. Although almost finished, it is still ongoing.

Wednesday 17 April 2019

Fiberglass sheathing of the deck

Although the building plans do not specify fiberglass sheathing of the deck, I have decided to do sheathing not realizing the amount of work involved. It will however increase the strength and stiffness of the deck, provide added impact and abrasion resistance and an overall better resistance to wear.
To do the sheathing dry fiberglass cloth was positioned on the surface and epoxy poured directly onto the fabric in small puddles and the epoxy was then worked into the fabric using a plastic squeegee and/or foam roller to remove trapped air. When tacky another layer of white epoxy was applied and Peel Ply applied on the wet epoxy.
The use of Peel Ply in the sheathing process is extremely important. The closely woven nylon cloth of the Peel Ply is a release fabric to which epoxy will not adhere and is applied as the last layer of the sheathing process. When the Peel Ply is removed at a later stage, the textured surface will need no or only a little sanding thus allowing further layers of glass/epoxy, fairing compounds or coatings to be applied.