Oh Dear!

Well I managed to stuff up the application of the two pack blacking and now I will have to get Doug to return and grit blast it all off…….. <@#$%&*>!!!!

Eventually I worked out what I’d done wrong and I’m not happy with myself.  The Hempadur two pack epoxy comes in two tins.  One large (the black stuff) and one small (clear resin).  The large tin is the same size as the standard Intertuf 16 black.  However the two products are incompatible.  I hadn’t noticed the Hempadur tin had a blue band and the Intertuf a red band.

Because the epoxy two pack will start to set quite quickly the advice I received was to only mix half the amount.  I did this in the paint store.  It was good advice as it was getting rather hard to apply the epoxy mixture using a roller towards the end of the first mix.  The second mix went on much easier, but didn’t dry as fast.

The next morning the guys in the boatyard told me I’d mixed the second batch of black using the last of the two pack resin with the remains of a container of Intertuf.  That’s when I realised I’d used the second half of a previously opened tin of Intertuf in the paint store for the second mix of the day rather than using the last half of the Hempadur tin. I hadn’t noticed or realised the difference between the blue and red bands.  So I had added the Hempadur resin to the Intertuf.  It doesn’t appear to have affected the Intertuf but it does mean we don’t have two pack on the boat.

But wait…… I’d painted one half of the boat with the correct mix of Hempadur so only one half of the boat needed to be grit blasted (again).  Then we realised Jan had gone around (at my request) touching up the first half of the boat using the contaminate Intertuf.  So the first half is also contaminated.

I can’t afford to leave any Intertuf on Waiouru, so it will all have to come off.  An expense we don’t really need.  I am very annoyed with myself and will undergo a session of self flagellation tonight!

The good news for the day is the portholes and houdini hatches have arrived.  I haven’t actually examined them yet as they are all carefully wrapped and boxed.  After the spray foam applicator has done his work we’ll be able to get Waiouru weather tight.