Commander 147

[ebb]

Onefourseven, suh,
that hull there in the closeups looks choice to me. Looks very healthy. That's the original real stuff.

Gouges or low spots could be caused by an overactive former owner. Or as you show a repair nearby, it may well have been some sort of damage that was grinded out but not repaired from that point properly.

If those low spots (5/16" is ENORMOUS) are near your thin hull areas then imco this is still damage not repaired completely. I think it is excellent you grinded the mess off. Now you know what is there. And what is not there. Might help to lay an 8' batten on the good side to get an idea of what might be missing from the damaged side. Try it back and forth to get an image. Except for the gouging there can't be too much difference because it takes a lot of work with a sander/grinder to remove stuff.

Common lam schedule into a female mold is the sprayed on gel coat, then hand layering of mat, then multi layers of roving. You may be able to read these layers in those gouges. The lamination is supposed to be thickest at the keel gradually getting thinner going to the sheer. Thickness is built up with roving. Areas that needed to be smooth enough for painting by Pearson may have had cloth or mat final interior lams.

If those low spots are thin I might lay in some small pieces of fabric and two part into the depressions. Little ones first then bigger ones like you are closing up an old thru-hull. Fill to the approximate surface with cabosil gel and chopped strand. Then lam on the area pieces of 6oz, if that's what you are doing. Then do your fairing with easier to sand stuff like West System's407 powder that you mix with the same laminating plastic.
Never learned how to formulate my own powder for non-sag on vertical surfaces.

Tape on a piece of mylar film with blue tape to keep the filler flat if it wants to sag. Creates 'surface tension'. Peel it off after set.
[Just occurred to me that this is a trick used with epoxy, don't know if it works with vinylester.]

A longer batten will give you a more complete story of the hull's surface ups and downs. Longer pieces of aluminum bar are nice because of their soft edges.
Remember, these hulls were conceived as the fairest any human eye had ever seen. Each side of the hull is identical.
All of the hull's curves run without impediment into every other curve, right to the keelpost.