More Sanding

Today began the process of finish sanding the strakes before they are stitched into the hull. They were sanded with 100-grit, then 220-grit sandpaper. This took a little lighter touch, so instead of the belt sander, an orbital quarter sheet palm sander was the tool for the job. After reading comments from other builders, I wasn't surprised at how quickly I went through the sandpaper. A quarter sheet of 100-grit wouldn't quite do both sides of a whole strake before it lost the power to "cut" well. Even clearing the clogged paper with a wire brush didn't extend the life appreciably. Luckily I had enough sandpaper on hand today to do as much work as I had time for. But I'll have to buy some more on the way home tomorrow. Finally, I really must say I like my little Black and Decker sander. It might not be heavy-duty enough for the pros, but if it holds up for this project, I'll be happy. The gel pad handgrip really cuts down on vibrations transmitted to the hand. And the dust trap seems to do a decent job, without requiring me to connect a vacuum hose. It also comes with a clever press-in jig to punch holes in new sandpaper squares so the dust collection works. Total hours 17.25.