SUP Project May/June 2018 (21 Pics)

I was hoping to knock this out in about two weeks, but I can't dedicate that sort of time, so it will prolly drag on for a month. What I originally thought to he simple bubbles are actually the center stringer and the foam that did not break down in the heat. You can also see where moisture is still coming from the board. A shop once told me it's just common stupidity to pour money into a board this far gone. The jokes on them though, because I'm no ordinary kind of stupid.

I removed about 2/3 of the top deck. The bottom of the board is firm with no leaks or damage. That all of problem areas are above the water line is the only reason I took a chance on resurrecting this board.

The foam should look like a cooler. This foam off gassed badly, wrecking the glass and leaving what ever foam condenses into behind. ;)

Hand sanding, mostly. Again, I use the dremel as needed for very fine work.

Initial sanding is done, you can see the highs and the lows.

Sooo much sanding....... ......so far, about five hours into the project and the board is sanded down to the good layers.

I'm spackling the low spots and the spots where I dug out holes removing soft foam. The internet suggested this as a weight saving measure over epoxy and filler.

I'm certainly hoping this isn't like that time the internet told everyone that they could drill out their iPhone 6's and slide in their headphone jacks. :/

Starting to shape the replacement foam into form. So far, at this point, I'm about a total of six hours over three days in.

Carving out a box for the replacement foam on the left side.

Started shaping the replacement foam. A tree saw works well for both rough shaping foam and slicing up the perfectly fine gel coat underneath the foam you are cutting.

Roughly shaped. I'll prolly redo a couple of pieces for a tight fit since this is the standing deck. I was gonna hurry to be done tonight, I should have just left it undone...meh, foam is cheap and I bought extra. After I do the other side, heh, more sanding. :)

Foam epoxied in place & weighted down. Normally I'd just let it sit overnight and do the other side, but employment is keeping me from my great work again. ;p

And now I'm a pillow.

One of the panels was either not sufficiently epoxied, or I had a low spot that I missed while sanding. I used a hole saw, by hand ;) , to make an access point into the area that is flexing. I'm going to use the expanding gorilla glue to properly secure the panel, and leave the hole open to allow for any excess glue to have an escape route. All the other panels are secure. I started standing the second side into the proper shape. So far, I'm prolly about 15 hours of actual hands-on time into the project.

Don't be me, kids. Stay in school. :/ sooo much sanding.

Let the epoxy flow!

I should not have gone with a dark color (green) on a paddleboard (or surfboards.) I'm installing a vent, but it will still allow the deck to really generate some heat laying in the summer sun at the beach. I'm going to use a full coverage deck pad to mitigate this blunder :)

Final layer of fiber is cut and ready for epoxy. I'm out of epoxy. (Actually, I may have exactly enough, which does not allow for any errors, so I ordered more. The stuff lasts forever, and I strongly suspect kiddo will be learning to repair surfboard dings before too much more time elapses.)

I'm up to just over 40 hours of labor. I really under estimated how long it would take ;)

However, much of the time was spent reading & learning and experimenting with different ideas as I went. The next project of this sort would immediatly drop to 25 hours or so. There are specialty tools that would improve and speed up the sanding, so a truly dedicated person doing it for profit could probably get there in 8/10 hours of actual work.

Finished, close to 50 hours of actual work. I'll let the hot coat dry for the next several days, put the traction pad & leash on, & take her for a spin.

Success. :) I have successfully resurrected this boat. This afternoon, I'll install the traction pad, vent, and leash.