Removing all the hardware comes next. Lowe says he’ll spraypaint some parts (like the scupper covers shown) separately in Sadler’s paint shop. Upon noticing a couple of holes where hardware was previously removed and painted over, he reams them out with a 3/4-inch countersink drill bit (“To get a better bond,” he says), fills the resulting conical hollow with EverCoat Formula 27 polyester filler, and smoothes the material flat with a putty knife. “A lot of people think epoxy is the answer for everything,” says Lowe, “but your boat is made of polyester—why wouldn’t you repair it with the same material? And besides, the Formula 27 is much easier to fair into the surrounding surfaces than epoxy.”
