To Varnish or Not To Varnish

 Certainly varnishing the roof will lead to more maintenance, I can always paint it later. This is an interesting guide to varnishes from Practical Sailor:

https://www.practical-sailor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/1209-ON-PART-VANISH-GUIDE.pdf

Fiberglassing the roof

Well, finished fiberglassing the roof, three coats of that new epoxy and caulked the joints the along the full length roof beams and around the hatch..

Its not quite perfect, but damn that SAP CLR is great stuff.. doesn't bubble or foam much, sets nicely. I did have some small issues my fault, I mixed up about 16 ounces and had it flash off in the hot weather in the pan a little quicker than I wanted which makes for a goopy mess, wasted epoxy, and can be a little unsettling as it gets hot.. will it burst into flames... ?? I didn't have that happen thank goodness.. The other issue was that I epoxied too late in the evening, the temps that day dropped rapidly in the night causing dew. The moisture settling on the epoxy as it cured caused a little amine blush... so I had to scrubby it off with soap, water, and scotch brite.. fortunately it was just a small area and after scrubbing and sanding recoated ok.

So now, I beg the question... it doesn't pass the mahogany deck sweet showboat quality test.. but I am inclined to think I do like the look of a varnish. Its not at all perfection, but I think it's a nice look.. if I paint first then I can't varnish later but if I varnish and hate it.. I can paint later.

wood plugs

 Small progress.. It took some time and doesn't seem like much, but I got all the roof rafters on.. and all the screw holes plugged with wood plugs. It was alot of plugs to make! I made the plugs out of the same wood. Probably not any better than just simply filling with epoxy, but I like the aesthetics and feel of it. More of a feel good thing for me, despite the time to do. Now time to fill small gaps, and trim. Call me Mr. Turtle... but progress is still progress..