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Hurricane Andrew made landfall in Homestead, Florida, just before dawn on August 24, 1992. It passed across the Southern tip of Florida, more or less following the road known as Alligator Alley through the Everglades before its eye entered the Gulf of Mexico four hours later. We had spent that night inland from the Naples coastline. The power had flickered and gone out a few times, and the home we were staying in saw minimal cosmetic damage as the storm had passed. All in all, we were spared the brunt of the storm.
We returned home when the wind and rain subsided, passing downed trees, bent street signs, and police officers directing traffic to ensure that only residents made their way back to our neighborhood. The cleanup had already begun.
The East coast of Florida was not as lucky. Hurricane Andrew became the strongest recorded storm to hit the US until it was surpassed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
As a result of Andrew, the buildings codes and construction requirements have been forever changed in Florida. Structures are now required to handle much more stringent wind speeds, and building products are designed to meet the impact of flying debris. These codes are continually reviewed and updated as we are seeing stronger and more frequent storms.
Andrew held the record for being the most destructive and costliest storm to hit Florida until Hurricane Irma made landfall very near to where Andrew exited Florida in 2018...and that is a tale I will leave for another day...
Before attaching the deck, I took the weights and clamps off the rudder and keel to inspect the work. It clearly wasn't the cleanest epoxy job in the history of the T37 rudder assemblies, but being my first, it was the best in my history. I'm counting on the sanding and paint to finish to make it nice.
The pins were stuck, so the needle-nose pliers helped me work them out.
Although I made a substantial mess with epoxy, everything looked true and felt solid. I'll just need to clean up all up with careful sanding.
On to attaching the deck! First, I laid out a sheet of Saran wrap on the table where I planned to let the boat rest while the epoxy set up.
My daughter provided the photography today so I could capture the epoxy process. To begin, I mixed the clear coat for the underside of the deck.
Instead of brushing it on, a paper towel worked well for applying a thin coat. I laid paper towels down under the deck to keep any epoxy from getting on the Saran wrap on the table at this point.
Since this will not be visible, I wasn’t too concerned about the final finish as long as it was fully coated. I started with the inside and then applied the clear coat around the edges to give me the most time before the edges set up.
Applying the same technique to the inside of the hull around the edges where the epoxy will hold the deck.
Next, I mixed the thickened epoxy and powder, then applied that around the inside edge of the hull where the deck would rest.
I used a craft stick for the application, with a scraping motion I transferred the epoxy from the stick, quickly moving around the perimeter edge of the hull.
The deck fit nicely in place. I then ran tape across the deck securing it to the hull and wiped the excess epoxy at the seams.
Flipping it upside down and applying the pavers again for weight, it was time to let it set up overnight.
The next morning, I removed the weight and flipped it over. The deck was securely attached, and the tape could be removed.
Careful inspection revealed the areas that I would need to fill in with extra epoxy and or sand down the excess epoxy, especially around the transom, but I knew that was going to be my problem area.
I’m in for a lot of sanding, filling, and shaping to prepare the boat for the veneer planks and painting. (Especially around the stern, where I had that transom mishap.)
I’ll also need to fill some of the gap between deck and hull.
Here is an image of the inside of the hull attached to the deck. The craft stick technique worked well; I just could have been a little more careful. Again, my concern was being able to get everything applied and in place before the epoxy set up. I probably had a little more time than I thought but didn’t want to chance it working in the Florida summer heat, and I am still very inexperience in working with epoxy.
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