1967 16-footer; Wood Refinishing; Hull Blisters; Canvas Repairs or Replacements

[sc67whaler]

Hello all from a new old-Whaler owner here, and new to the forum. Hope you are all well.

My dad recently gifted his 1967 Nauset (I believe). He'd had the boat since the early 1980's, and we've been far out in the Gulf of Mexico many times in it. Six-years ago he got another, newer Whaler and parked this one in the shed. It had been there ever since, but now it sits in my yard. :-) I plan on using it here in upstate South Carolina at the local lakes for fishing and skiing. The Evinrude 70-HP started up right away and runs great after being in storage.

I have a couple of questions:

The console needs to be sanded down and refinished. I'm planning on using polyurethane once I get the old stuff off. Anyone have thoughts or suggestions there?

In amongst the pics you can see some bubbling or blistering on the left side of the bow. Dad told me that it had been there for years before he stored the boat. When the blisters are 'popped', a small amount of oily-feeling watery stuff comes out. He suggested popping them all and re-painting over them, blending into the rest of the hull paint. At some point I want to have the entire hull refinished, but that's for down the road. Dad had the hull refinished when he first got it, and whoever did the job put those Whaler logo stickers over the original logos instead of replacing and repainting them, which I have always thought looked cheesy. I may peel those off eventually and hand paint the original red logos. Anyway, I want to be able to use the boat now while protecting those blistered areas. Would painting over the bubbles be okay?

Also, as y'all can see, the Bimini top has seen better days. The bow cover that extends from the Bimini top is in about the same shape. I'd like to have just the Bimini top itself up and going soon. I plan on taking it somewhere to have the fabric replaced. Is there anywhere that sells original-style replacements for this? Also, I see how to attach the front of the support poles and legs, but the back legs seem to have nowhere to go. It looks like they would've had little 'cups' or something to sit in at one time, but all that's left where those may have once been mounted to the insides of the boat are old rusted broken off screws, two on each side.

Thanks for any input. I'm sure I'll have more questions soon.

[sc67whaler]

Some more pics....

[jimh]

For advice on wood refinishing please see the article in REFERENCE on that topic, available at

Wood Care and the Boston Whaler Boat
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... rWood.html

[jimh]

For advice on repair of hull blisters, which are usually osmotic blisters, please see the article on that topic in REFERENCE, available at

The Cause of Hull Blisters
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... isters.pdf

The blisters probably appeared because the directions for hull bottom painting were not followed. See the owner's manual for advice. If you do not have the owner's manual, you can use an on-line version in HTML that I have created. See

Boston Whaler Owner's Manual for 9 to 17-foot Models
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/manual9-17/

In particular, read the section on bottom paint at

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... tml#bottom

[jimh]

The Flying Top weather canvas shown is most likely a product of the Wm. J. Mills & Co. The portion of the frame you are confused about is usually fitted with a rubber foot on the loose end. This frame piece arrests the movement of the frame toward the stern. The loose end and rubber foot is placed on the gunwale to set the angle of the hinged frame. A nylon strap is tensioned so that the loose foot is held in compression against the gunwale. The strap pulls downward at an almost vertical orientation. This is part of the crafty design of the weather canvas by Wm. J. Mills & Co. that eliminated a long nylon strap running aft, which would interfere with anglers in the cockpit.

For more about canvas products from Wm. J. Mills & Co., see

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... tml#canvas

and listen to

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/radio/index.html#mills

[jimh]

The 16-foot boat in 1967 came in several models. Yours looks like a NAUSET, but it has the forward deck filler option usually seen on the SAKONNET. I can't tell if it has the reversible pilot seat, another SAKONNET feature. For more details see

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... odels.html