I filled the weave and faired the entire hull of my Peeler with Total Boat TotalFair a few months ago and it worked out great.  WAY easier to sand than straight epoxy.  Could use micro ballons and epoxy but I found the TotalFair better.  After the intial sanding I had to reapply in a few areas (to cover up minor issues) and re-sand those areas.  Mixing umpteen batches of TotalFair gets a little old as it is fairly thick but it's worth the effort.  The application to the boat is very easy and the product can be worked for a while before it starts to setup.  LAY IT ON THE BOAT THIN... just enough to fill the weave.  

I filled / faired while the boat was flipped upside down because it made the sanding much easier with the flair of the boat sides facing up.  Attached the spray rails after fairing and just had to carefully touch up a little around the rails after installation.  

The hull is beautiful and ready for paint.  TotalFair takes paint like a champ though I will use primer above the water line in case there are tiny pin holes or other very small imperfections.

I painted the bottom with Petit Vivid Antifouling Paint prior to flipping the boat over to install the gunnels as I only wanted to flip the boat once. 

Scott

Thanks Scott, very helpful.  Just curious, how much fairing compound did you use for hull, 1-2 gallons?  

I am also planning to paint before flipping the boat.  It takes a crew of us to flip it and will be a challenge given social distancing requirements.  I will post some pics before I paint.  

-Whit

Hi Whit,

FiIling / fairing both sides and the transom took about a gallon and a quarter (I did go back and fix areas that were not right but that didn't take much TotalFair).

I put it on too heavy at first, so apply just enough to fill the weave. However... As you know there is a lot of fiberglass overlaps on your boat right now (especially around the transom) and this situation is where TotalFair really is worth it.  I applied the compound thick enough to smooth the 'steps' in the overlaps and after sanding could not be more pleased on how great it looks with minimal effort. 

Looking forward to seeing the pics.

Scott

NW Builder,

The only problem I see with filling the weave with fairing compound is that it is much softer than cured resin and provides less physical support for the paint layers. When I built my Peeler Skiff, About Time, I did not find that rolling and tipping resin to fill the weave was particularly difficult.

The resin is harder than fairing compound and is harder to sand, but my Festool Random Orbital sander and dust collector made short work of it. As you will see in this link, I did use fairing compound where more than filling the weave was required --- but it is under the fiberglass. After seeing how soft Interlux Prekote was, I did not use any primer between the fine-sanded resin and the Interlux Brightside.

Many have asked if the exterior finish was gelcoat (after a couple of weeks of curing, I buffed the Brightside with an automotive buffer and polishing compound). After four seasons of heavy saltwater use, the exterior still looks new.

For what it's worth.

Cheers,

Dick

   I have some of the same challenge now that I have glassed my Kaholo.  In addition to the glass overlaps, I wound up with many more drips on the vertical sides after the second coat of epoxy.  On the horizontal (the deck) I did pretty well and it will sand out smooth, but as much as I tried to watch and catch sags on the sides, it still did it and have them up and down both sides.  I'm sanding them down, but it's hard to just get the ridges and not sand into the glass so I'm going to have to do another coat.

I have microballoons and used them w/ some epoxy to fix some mismatch I had on a puzzle joint before I glassed.  Now, with the glass on, it looks like others have used fairing compound to fill weave and fix post-glassing mismatches.  Any cautions from anybody who's tried this with microballoon/epoxy mix?

Mummichog, 

in response to your question, i have two 'cautions'.  these are all manageable and this stuff works just fine.

- since you mix up your microballoons fairing compound yourself (vs a premix auto-fairing compound), getting its consistency right is important....light and fluffy....so that it spreads with a spatula with no desire to sag.  too much epoxy and you basically now have to sand a lump of epoxy off.  if you get it right, very little labor to sand/fair this material in.

- depending on the brand of fairing compound you use, you may have a significant color change compared to the surrounding surface.  since you will be painting, i assume, this area may require an extra coat of paint or two for the paint to hide the underlying color change. 

h

   I'm there with you on the color.  I already knew I'd have to paint and since the deck color is yellow Brightsides, I'm going to prime it because I have some of the purple compound where I faired my puzzle joint oops.  A couple of the fingers didn't get lined up flush and I didn't want to try to cook them apart.

I've got the Mas phenolic microspheres sold by CLC.  My first try wasn't quite stiff enough, but because it was horizontal flat surface, not much penalty.  Just another coat.  Another thing I learned was to make sure I had a good clean edge on my squeegee spreader.  Took a sharp knife and recut and tapered my rather notched spreader for the 2nd go.

This time though, I won't have such a flat surface.  Even standing the board on a side, you still have the curve to deal with so it'll have to be stiff so no sag.