Sanding the hull

It took almost a month to understand what to do and how with the hull.
Gathering information both from internet and fiberglass technician was not so easy and it came not all at once but in bits and pieces.

At first I have asked the marina people a price offer for the sanding (they have the machine which actually throws sand and that should be easy and quick) and it was acceptable, around 650euros. Luckily after I have agreed, the "sanding man" ( a friend of mine) told me that their sander is a less powerful one that only smooths the surface and will only get to the gelcoat. so this option went down.

So I went through sanding myself with a orbital sander (a basic bosch model borrowed from a friend) but after a week sanding (8/10 ho

urs in total... I'm doing this project during my spare time) the result was that I have only taken away the antifouling and the gelcoat that was still there was not in good condition and needed to be taken away also to show what the real situation was under there. not a job you can do with a orbital sander like the one I had.

Now after a month I went all the way down to fiberglass and the boat is now free to dry and shows other little repairs that need to be done before re-coating with epoxy.

It took me so long also because it wasn't so clear which instruments where best to use. After spending days looking at professional orbital sanding (well expensive) and changing my mind 100 times the fiberglass technician showed me how he does it!
With a common angle sander (but that has the option to set the speed/power) and a flexible pad with sanding paper grain 36. it was incredibly quicker and easier that using the orbital sander. you just need to pay more attention not to make a hole as this machine is much more powerful. with this method it took me 14/16hrs in total.

As part of the equipment I have also used 2 disposable dirt suits, a 3M dust mask (the one with replaceable filters) and full glasses/mask that I must say it was the most annoying thing as it kept getting foggy every minute.

Now that the hull is all exposed it has to be washed with a pressure washer to open up pores and take the acid away.