Stripes are in style

 In an attempt to inspire the fashion world, we decided to add stylish stripes to the hulls!  Okay, maybe not ... What we are doing is starting the initial fairing of the starboard hull.  To make the process a little less tedious, and to reduce the amount of expensive epoxy and microballoons ending up on the floor, we are applying stripes of fairing compound initially.  These stripes are approximately 1/4" wide and 1/4" tall, with either a triangular or rounded profile.  After they cure, we will pull out the long board and start sanding them down until they are nearly gone.  The remaining stripes show the low areas, which can be filled in the second pass, hence minimizing the amount of fairing compound required.

 Here is what the application of the fairing stripes looks like part way through the process.  Initially this was rather frustrating because the putty would peel of as it was applied.  After some adjustments to technique and putty mix, I found the right procedure and it progressed more quickly.  The key was to make the putty slightly wetter than putty for fillets.  I used a mix of 1.375 cups of balloons for every 150 mL of mixed epoxy (sorry for the mixed unit conventions).  A little wetter was better than a little drier.  I didn't care too much about sag since I am sanding it all off, just as long as it doesn't drip.  The whole process took about a day.

Here is the high-tech, custom modified, double-edged, and most importantly - yellow squeegee I used.  The triangular notches are separated by 2" with an inch on the outer edges.  This layout made it easy to keep the stripes fairly uniform, though uniformity is only a requirement in the most general sense.  I actually made a second squeegee with rounded notches, which also worked well.  The application procedure started with sanding and vacuuming the entire surface so the putty would adhere well.  Then I applied a thin layer (~1/8-1/4 inch) of fairing putty over an area of the hull.  In general, I tried to do sections spanning from the keel to the deck seam.  Then I scraped off most of the putty with this notched squeegee, leaving stripes of putty behind.  The removed putty was reapplied on the next section of hull.  When the putty starts to get dry, I found it easier to mix a new batch and combine the leftover slightly drier putty with the new.  Just be careful you don't mix the old putty with new if the old stuff is kicking.  If some of the stripes come off, or aren't quite perfect, no big deal, just as long as most stripes are good.  Next time I'll show the sanding process (assuming I can still move!)