Sanding the Interior

Before starting sanding the interior I completed the finishing on the floor boards.  As you can tell from my prior post, I REALLY like that danish oil.  So easy and so beautiful.   'Enough said.

Another task that I wanted to tackle before sanding was the battery box support.  Like most everyone else I'm putting the battery between bulkhead 1 and 2.  I purchased a "smart" battery box that has a charge indicator and 2 fused 12VDC outlets.  I figure you can't have too many of these 12VDC outlets and it keeps me from having to mount them somewhere.  This box is capable of holding a group 24 or 27 battery.  I figure that I'll go big.  As you can see in the photo below I just created a platform with a couple of fiddles on them to keep the box from sliding around.  The front and rear fiddles have slots in them for the battery box strap.

Here's how it the box looks on the platform.

The next problem was mounting the platform.  If you notice the supports have to be tapered in two directions.  I was able to use the T-Bevel to duplicate both of these angles on the supports.

The next problem was how to hold the supports in place while the glue dried.  Turns out the solution was as easy as mounting the platform to the supports with screws and then glueing it into the boat.  I leveled it side to side and then placed a battery on top of it until the glue dried.  After it set up I removed the platform and put nicely finished fillets on both sides of each support.

The final product looks nice and was perfectly level side to side and off about 1/2 a bubble front to back.  I'll call that within specs.

On to the sanding.  Geared up with respirator, eye protection, hearing protection, sander with vacuum attachment and went to work.  I don't think you can over estimate how much area there is to sand.  After 4 hours I'm about 1/3 the way done with the first (120) grit.  I'll have to go back and use my finishing sander for the corners and then repeat the process with 220 grit.  My hands are already numb from all the sanding.

Here you can see the difference between the sanded and un-sanded areas.  Also you can see the fiberglass overlaps that add to the structure.  This isn't hard work but it sure is tedious.

Hours this session: 12

Hours total: 253

Hours remaining: 167