Refinishing the Laser's deck

The kshe Laser we picked up at an estate sale is ready for the top coat on the deck.  In past posts, we addressed deck problems with the mid '70s laser.
After fairing and a layer of glass cloth set in epoxy, all that was needed was a sanding to prepare it for a top coat.
We could of just used paint.  In the past I have rolled on Interlux Perfection.  It looks great but paint is incredibly thin and for this project we wanted the body gel coat provides.  In the photos below, you can see the dimpled finish we were after.  It looks great and provides just enough non slip.
The weather has warmed up enough to spray the gel coat on the Laser's deck.
We can heat the space, but when you get this amount or resin air born, big ventilation is a must.  Of course we are using new organic respirators but you just don't want to hang out to long when the concentration is this high.
We ended up spraying about 2 quarts of pure white gel coat.

There are a couple of areas we will address tomorrow.  There are a couple of stray drips from the gun and possibly a couple of thin spots.  We will do any necessary sanding an give a light overspray to touch these areas up.

80 grit sanding gives the gelcoat a good bite.

Blown off and ready for masking.

The deck is now back to a nice uniform white.

Super nice!

Ugly before shot.

Winter Laser repair

We got a small repair job on a Laser with hull / deck separation anxiety.
The boat has lead a long life and the owner just wants to get a few more summer sails off the beach on a lake in Michigan.  To keep it above the waves, we needed to refasten about 6 linear feet of the joint.

On a similar repair to this we used thickened epoxy.  But the length of this one made me think 3M 5200 was in order.  It appeared that the initial bonding of the hull to deck in these old Lasers was with just the laminating resin  (ester based not epoxy).
The 5200 took a while to cure in the cooler temps, but after a week and some sprits of water to help with it's water curing properties, it set up.  It is now the strongest part of this hull for sure.

Also a nice curvy and slippery hull.
944!

KSHE Rocks !

...and so does this Laser we picked up at an estate sale !

We pulled it out of the weeds, pumped some "Slime" into the tires and got it home.  Not sure of the year yet, but everything is there.  The sail, rudder and dagger board were stored inside.

We can't wait to get it in shape and try her out.