We finished fairing and sanding the outer side of the float with a single pass of putty. I must be getting better at applying the fairing putty because it only took about an hour to fully sand the float, and very little putty was sanded off. Next we flipped the float over to work on the keel. Here you can see how we supported the float with a couple braces on each side. Bracing the hull like this made it much easier and quicker to grind down the keel. Once braced, it took about an hour to form the keel with the belt sander and the 30" fairing board. The black "handles" sticking out are actually pieces of insulating foam so I don't impale myself on the protruding braces.
After fairing the keel, I carefully inspected the entire hull (except the deck) and filled any remaining imperfections, open seams between foam planks, screw holes, etc. I only used a single batch of putty (150 mL epoxy + 1.25 cups microballoons) for the entire hull. It should take a very light sanding with the fairing board to fair these patches. Once the putty cures, I'll sand the keel and lower hull. Then we will turn the hull back on to its side and finish sanding. After that, we will be ready to laminate the outer surface with 18-oz. glass.
After I finished the last patches, I prepped all of the glass fabric. The big rolls are the 18-oz. glass that will cover the entire hull. There are also several smaller pieces used for reinforcing the hull in key areas. I am excited to get the hull laminated for the sense of progress it provides. Of course after laminating, we skim coat it with fairing putty and I am back to fairing. At least the cooler temperatures make the work more pleasant. And we are close to moving on to the main hull!
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