Centerboard Fairing and Fiberglassing

A busy weekend, so I haven't got a lot done.  I did find some time to work on the centerboard.

Centerboard Weight Smoothed

Leading and Trailing Edges Faired

This shot is of the centerboard lead weight and some of the fairing (more about that later).  The weight was smoothed with a grinder and cabinet scraper (rectangle of very hard steel), then sanded smooth.  The low areas and screw holes will be filled in with thickened epoxy.  The screw holes are from temporary screws used to hold a plywood scrap on the other side during the lead pour.

Here is an overall shot of the centerboard after the leading and trailing edges have been "faired."  That is, they were tapered on the leading and trailing edges.  The leading edge was faired to a width of about 1 1/2" and the trailing edge (to the left in this picture) was faired to a width of about four inches.  Fairing was done with the grinder and finished with the sander.  (All this work was done last weekend.)

Centerboard 'Glassed on Port Side

And finally, the centerboard after yesterday's application of fiberglass cloth and epoxy to the port side.  Next (today I hope), the starboard side will be 'glassed and then at least two more coats of epoxy applied to both sides.  The final coat will contain graphite powder to make it as hard and slippery as possible--so it will glide smoothly through the water and into the centerboard trunk.  You may remember that the inside of the trunk was also coated with a graphite/epoxy mix.  There will be a lot of sanding of all the epoxy coats.  The centerboard will always "live" inside the trunk except when it is extended into the water below the keel, so I am not worried about the deleterious effects of sunlight on the epoxy, i.e., no need to varnish or paint it.  One less maintenance worry--the centerboard will be extremely difficult to get at once the boat is finished.