Finishing the deck

With a coat of epoxy on the deck, I turned my attention to cutting out the hatches for the cooler and trash bin. These two items are being built into the center deck and accessed by hatches.  Since the deck is curved and I wanted everything to match up, I finished the deck and then cut the hatches out.

This shows the cut outs. My goal was to make hatches that didn't require the stainless steel hatch trim around the perimeter. That meant I had start and cut almost exactly on the line, all the way around.  After marking where the cuts should go, I used a multifunction tool to make a straight, vertical plunge cut into my line.  From there I could insert the saber saw blade and cut around on the line.  All in all, it came out pretty well.  I dinged the line a little where I started the cut but with some sanding and slightly rounding the edge, it shouldn't be too noticeable.  If it bothers me, I can always add hatch trim at a later date.  (Katie, the admiral, suggested I should have started the cut where the hinges go.  Good idea!  Why didn't I think of that?)

This shows the two hatches.  The larger holes are for the pulls used to open the hatches. You can also see the small screw holes.  Thinking ahead, I actually mounted the hinges before I completed the cutting. This will ensure everything lines up and goes back the way it started.

With the hatch work done, I could complete the finish on the hull.  I added two more coats of epoxy, sanding between each coat.  I probably would have only done two coats, but I sanded through on the stained cover board and had to re-stain and apply more epoxy.

After sanding and wiping it clean, I started with the varnish.  I used System Three WR-LPU clear gloss.  This is water based and doesn't have any obnoxious odors or fumes.  The only challenge is that is dries very fast and is hard to maintain a wet edge.   I used a technique called "roll and tip".   You apply it with a foam roller, which does a good job of applying it fast and evenly.   However, it creates little bubbles everywhere which you remove by lightly running a foam brush over the surface (tipping).

Since this varnish dries fast, I was able to put on three coats in one evening.  Unfortunately, the lights attracted bugs and I have a few insects embedded.    I plan to wet sand the deck with fine sandpaper to remove the bugs and a few surface flaws and apply another coat or two.    Here's how it looks at this stage.

There are some subtle and not so subtle variations in the unstained mahogany.  The boards I stained are much more uniform in color and a little darker than the unstained boards.