Fiberglass dust is a toxic respiratory irritant so I have invested in a high-quality respirator to try to protect my lungs. Wet fiberglass is a skin irritant, which seems to cause a rash a lot like Poison Ivy, so I am also being very careful to wear gloves and long-sleeved shirts, whether painting or sanding. And all this dust is, of course, apt to wreak havoc on the final coats of varnish, so I am sweeping the garage regularly--wearing my Darth Vader mask while I do so.
Today, I started sanding the bottom of the hull. My first goal was to mark all the places where I thought I should add a bit more fiberglass to fill the lap seams to the very top for as smooth a finished look as possible. There weren't so very many, but I decided to mix up about 10 ounces of thickened goop, figuring that I could quickly fill the seams and then use the rest to glue up the rudder and perhaps the daggerboard. But as I worked I made a dim-witted mistake.
After topping off the seams, I decided to spend fifteen minutes or so smoothing them before going on to the rudder. I set my pastry bag aside and went to work. When I came back to it, the bag was actually steaming and very hot to touch! When fiberglass starts to cure, it generates heat, and the heat accelerates the curing. So I ended up with an over-sized, lop-sided softball in a bag. You can see my little treasure sitting next to the rudder (which I glued together with a new batch of thickened fiberglass). Even an hour later the fiberglass on the boat's seams was still soft and malleable, while the "softball" had become a rock! I should have glued the rudder together first . . . and then gone back to smoothing seams. Live and learn.
Too bad you won't be here at Halloween. With your mask, you would fit right in with our costumes this year -- Leia, Luke, and Yoda.
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