Glass sheathing the deck

Rae mixing epoxy.

Last month Rae and I glass sheathed the deck on Zephon. This is the first time we have glassed a deck and happily all went well (There were the odd tense moments, mainly me getting tetchy).  It is amazing how long it takes to wet out the glass cloth properly, Zephon is only 21 ft long and it took us about 7 hours in total to complete this task.

Preparation, being organized and making sure you work in the optimum environment is key to success (we were exceptionally lucky with the weather). The glass cloth and epoxy system used was 300 gm woven roving and West System epoxy. We also used peel ply which was well worth the extra effort and cost as the finish it leaves is amazing.

Epoxy is a nasty, environmentally unfriendly product. It is very important to make sure that you protect yourself and the environment from this product (always read the data sheet).

Peel ply in-situ. 

With this environmental fact in mind it was with a heavy heart that we opted to glass sheath Zephon's deck. I had considered re-canvassing the deck but the sad fact is that if done correctly the glass deck is more durable and will last much longer than canvas, I dare say there are some of you that will disagree and I am happy to be corrected on this point.