exterior repair - Moderated Discussion Areas

  ContinuousWave
  Whaler
  Moderated Discussion Areas
  ContinuousWave: Whaler Repairs/Mods
  exterior repair

search | FAQ | profile | register | author help

Author Topic:   exterior repair

69eastport posted 06-24-2003 08:49 PM ET (US)
My boat has between 6 and 8 layers of bottom paint and the gelcoat appears to have shrunk. There is crazing (sp) everywhere. I bought the boat in New Jersey 5 years ago. I think it has been outside uncovered most of the time. It shows no signs of TLC. As far as I can tell the hull is sound. My wife and I used the boat on the great lakes for a couple of years and really enjoyed it. I am not after a museum piece or a contest winner. I am trying to find the most direct route to a servicable allbeit cute boat. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Salty in Sault Sainte Marie.
alkar posted 06-24-2003 10:04 PM ET (US)
Your questoion is very broad, so it's difficult to respond.
This site has a reference section and a search engine. You might be able to sharpen your question after using those resources a bit.
There are many, many threads on paint removal, hole repair, deck repair, gelcoat repair, and miriad other related subjects.
Good luck.
69eastport posted 06-24-2003 10:21 PM ET (US)
There seems to be a crack in the gel coat on about a 1/2 inch grid all over the boat. does that indicate that all the gel coat needs to be removed. If so, what are some time and energy efficient techniques? And how do you search in this forum? Thanks for your reply.
alkar posted 06-25-2003 12:05 AM ET (US)
The address for the search engine is:
http://continuouswave.com/htdig/
Are you sure it's the gelcoat that is cracked in that pattern, or could it be paint?
69eastport posted 06-25-2003 07:07 AM ET (US)
I don't think so. One can see the kind of translucent bluegreen (quite pretty under different circumstances) of what I'm fairly sure is the resin in the fiberglass layer.
Thanks for the search address and the reply.
69eastport posted 06-26-2003 08:28 PM ET (US)
Everything on the hull has been removed with the exception of the mooring/trailering eye that originates in the bow locker. All of the wood, the rails, all of the controls (not extracted from the tunnel at this point) the motor and mount, everthing from the transom. The hull is now upsidedown on blocks in my boat shop.
I have tried some methods on the transom. On one half I roughed up the bottom paint with some 60 grit. I then put a fairly aggressive cleaner/stripper (challanger) on the bottom paint. After about 30 minutes, I started scrubbing the area with a scotchbrite pad. that seemed to remove quite a bit of the bottom paint on the side I had hit with 60 grit.
After removing paint, scum, and oxidation I realized the checking pattern in the gel coat was quite deep and extensive.
I am trying not to make to many mistakes or re-invent a process that others have allready worked out. My experience is primarily with wooden boats. Building, reproducing and teaching ultralight building techniques. I also have some autobody experience (just enough to be dangerous as the story goes).
My original goal was to possibly use the boat this year but right now I have backed way off on that. Last fall I took the boat to a BW dealer in Cedarville MI. the manager there would not even give me an estimate. But the gel coat is all original, the hull has no major damage from collision or fracture, by sounding the hull it does not seem to be water logged (not just my opinion) It seems to me like a very nice hull with a lot of cosmetic problems.
What I'm hoping for from this forum is some information based on experience on how to prepare the hull for a top coat. I have purchased Interlux Interprotect Barrier coat and Interlux VC Performance Epoxy Bottom paint. My intent is to use these two up to the water line with some Boot stripe paint. The chines and keel have had some minor interaction with hard objects, enough to expose resin and glass but so far as I can tell no foam. My wife and I painted our Catalina 27 from the boot stripe to the gunnels with Algrip (sp), with great success, to cover some discolored dock rash repairs. Very little surface prep required. I understand that U. S. Paints has come out with a product called Alcraft that is more repairable than the ultra-high gloss finish of Algrip. But at this point I have not made up my mind on what top coat to use above the waterline.
Tom Mertaugh from Mertaugh Boat works, Very old BW dealer, in Hessel MI. came over to our house and looked the boat over and thought the inside would respond well to cleaning and rubbing out without a lot of gel coat repair. He felt the hull was sound also but, most of his experience is in restoring old mahogany runabouts so he wasn't much help with the checking problem.
I hope this clarfies things a bit :-( Sorry about the rambling.

Hop to:

Contact Us | RETURN to ContinuousWave Top Page

Powered by: Ultimate Bulletin Board, Freeware Version 2000
Purchase our Licensed Version- which adds many more features!
© Infopop Corporation (formerly Madrona Park, Inc.), 1998 - 2000.

Author	Topic: exterior repair
69eastport	posted 06-24-2003 08:49 PM ET (US) My boat has between 6 and 8 layers of bottom paint and the gelcoat appears to have shrunk. There is crazing (sp) everywhere. I bought the boat in New Jersey 5 years ago. I think it has been outside uncovered most of the time. It shows no signs of TLC. As far as I can tell the hull is sound. My wife and I used the boat on the great lakes for a couple of years and really enjoyed it. I am not after a museum piece or a contest winner. I am trying to find the most direct route to a servicable allbeit cute boat. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Salty in Sault Sainte Marie.
alkar	posted 06-24-2003 10:04 PM ET (US) Your questoion is very broad, so it's difficult to respond. This site has a reference section and a search engine. You might be able to sharpen your question after using those resources a bit. There are many, many threads on paint removal, hole repair, deck repair, gelcoat repair, and miriad other related subjects. Good luck.
69eastport	posted 06-24-2003 10:21 PM ET (US) There seems to be a crack in the gel coat on about a 1/2 inch grid all over the boat. does that indicate that all the gel coat needs to be removed. If so, what are some time and energy efficient techniques? And how do you search in this forum? Thanks for your reply.
alkar	posted 06-25-2003 12:05 AM ET (US) The address for the search engine is: http://continuouswave.com/htdig/ Are you sure it's the gelcoat that is cracked in that pattern, or could it be paint?
69eastport	posted 06-25-2003 07:07 AM ET (US) I don't think so. One can see the kind of translucent bluegreen (quite pretty under different circumstances) of what I'm fairly sure is the resin in the fiberglass layer. Thanks for the search address and the reply.
69eastport	posted 06-26-2003 08:28 PM ET (US) Everything on the hull has been removed with the exception of the mooring/trailering eye that originates in the bow locker. All of the wood, the rails, all of the controls (not extracted from the tunnel at this point) the motor and mount, everthing from the transom. The hull is now upsidedown on blocks in my boat shop. I have tried some methods on the transom. On one half I roughed up the bottom paint with some 60 grit. I then put a fairly aggressive cleaner/stripper (challanger) on the bottom paint. After about 30 minutes, I started scrubbing the area with a scotchbrite pad. that seemed to remove quite a bit of the bottom paint on the side I had hit with 60 grit. After removing paint, scum, and oxidation I realized the checking pattern in the gel coat was quite deep and extensive. I am trying not to make to many mistakes or re-invent a process that others have allready worked out. My experience is primarily with wooden boats. Building, reproducing and teaching ultralight building techniques. I also have some autobody experience (just enough to be dangerous as the story goes). My original goal was to possibly use the boat this year but right now I have backed way off on that. Last fall I took the boat to a BW dealer in Cedarville MI. the manager there would not even give me an estimate. But the gel coat is all original, the hull has no major damage from collision or fracture, by sounding the hull it does not seem to be water logged (not just my opinion) It seems to me like a very nice hull with a lot of cosmetic problems. What I'm hoping for from this forum is some information based on experience on how to prepare the hull for a top coat. I have purchased Interlux Interprotect Barrier coat and Interlux VC Performance Epoxy Bottom paint. My intent is to use these two up to the water line with some Boot stripe paint. The chines and keel have had some minor interaction with hard objects, enough to expose resin and glass but so far as I can tell no foam. My wife and I painted our Catalina 27 from the boot stripe to the gunnels with Algrip (sp), with great success, to cover some discolored dock rash repairs. Very little surface prep required. I understand that U. S. Paints has come out with a product called Alcraft that is more repairable than the ultra-high gloss finish of Algrip. But at this point I have not made up my mind on what top coat to use above the waterline. Tom Mertaugh from Mertaugh Boat works, Very old BW dealer, in Hessel MI. came over to our house and looked the boat over and thought the inside would respond well to cleaning and rubbing out without a lot of gel coat repair. He felt the hull was sound also but, most of his experience is in restoring old mahogany runabouts so he wasn't much help with the checking problem. I hope this clarfies things a bit :-( Sorry about the rambling.