CONTINUOUSWAVE

I recently purchased this 1978 SPORT 13 SOURPUSS to restore as close to original with my 3 kids. Our goal is to complete it in the off season so it can be used next summer.

This is our first time owning a BW and first time trying to fix one up so we appreciate any and all advice.

Spent a lot of time looking at various 13 footers, in a range of conditions. We decided on this one because it was in good shape, seemed to be all-original (or pretty close), was used in fresh water in Vermont and had been owned by one family since original purchased. The seller was a great help in the process. We live in Maryland, so we trailered it down here and it was uneventful (which is good) and now its in our driveway and garage. Once finished we will take it up to Mount Desert Island Maine and have it up there for the summers. We are normally in Maine for 3 to 4 weeks, where it would be in the water sitting for most of that time.
Plan is roughly to document location of all parts now, then dismantle and remove all items from the hull. Patch and repair hull, sand and varnish the wood. Replace some wiring, add a new gas tank, battery, and reassemble. We will tune the engine as needed but it runs well so we won’t do much to that unless needed> I would like to clean up the outboard and cover, as well as shifter mechanish but want to keep original. Almost all of the chrome will be reinstalled and remain the same.
First Step of this process is the hull. I’m mapping out where everything is, and taking a photos to start taking it apart. We planned to then flip it over and work on the bottom first. I have read a lot on the forums about bottom paint and refinishing and the more I read the more uncertain I am about exactly how to go about this. My original plan was to remove the bottom paint and go back to original gel coat, desert tan interior and white on outside. I know the boat will sit in water for 3-4 weeks a year, but planned to clean each season and thought it would be ok.
In terms of bottom paint removal, the paint is already very thin on bottom so planned to sand it off with an orbital sander, fill cracks and dings and then would gel coat it. Sanding and filling we thought we could do ourselves, but debating about trying to tackle gel coat ourselves. In particular on the interior and non-skid surface we were thinking we might find a yard to put on fresh gel coat. I’ve seen a range of comments on the site about how hard it is to remove the bottom paint and how messy that is along with the prep. Despite all of those warnings we are still determined to give it a shot, but debating whether it is worth it. Also considering if a boat yard can end up with a better finished product than us first timers, so maybe it makes sense for us to do some of the prep and sanding work and then get a yard to spray it.

Given the photos attached, I’d like to get fresh thoughts to make a final decision on the path to go on the hull.
1) Eliminating bottom paint and returning to Gel Coat
2) Whether we DIY this, find a pro to do it, or some hybrid of the two
Assuming we did decide to outsource this, any recommendations in Maryland (in and around Annapolis or eastern shore is ok) for this work.

Thanks,

Your boat is not a Sourpuss model as they had a different console and center steering.

As far as your concerns about the bottom paint. I would try and remove a section using paint stripper or even a razor blade to see how good it was installed to begin with. If it was done properly it will not be an easy job. Keeping a boat in the water for a month, it should have bottom paint as gelcoat can absorb water and blister. Petit makes a vivid white bottom paint that would be much less noticeable than a color. Do NOT get shark white as it is actually grey.That boat looks clean and I highly doubt it needs new gelcoat which would be VERY expensive. To clean the scum line use MaryKate's On/Off hull cleaner or bar keeper's friend/comet. I would highly suggest a light wet sanding, a good compound, then polish & wax. Painting or gelcoating a hull can seriously affect resale. They are only original once. I would leave the controls alone as well.

PS...your stern lifting eyes are on upside down.

Hull: MaryKate or any hull cleaner with oxalic accid will clean that hull completely. It will also strip any and all wax off of the surface, so a good compound and wax will have the hull looking great. For the bottom it's a no-brainer: lightly sand and fair and replace the bottom paint with a good brand (Petit, etc.) and be done with it. You will be happy when pulling the boat after 3-4 weeks and it doesn't look bad to have bottom paint. It certainly looks better than blisters.

Topside: Same thing with the hull cleaner. Take out all of your wood and clean the interior with the same hull cleaner. The wood appears in good condition so a light sand and refinishing with a good brand of varnish or polyurethane ( I prefer the latter) will have the wood looking great. The interior can be buffed with a 3M polishing compound and a soft bristle round brush that attaches to a drill. Careful with waxing the interior for obvious reasons - you don't want to create a slippery surface.

Engine/controls: If that motor is running fine, then I would keep it forever. Those were serious workhorse engines. If treated right, it will last another 42 years. Besides, it just looks good on those hulls. You can still find the matching OMC paint if you really want to make it a trailer queen, but otherwise a good cleaning and a little wax will make it look great as well.

Good point on the paint. Moeller bought out Tempo paint and I am not sure what colors they still produce. That blue gets much darker with age so I would look for period correct Evinrude light blue. BRP makes/made paint as well. The correct color is Evinrude 1971-1977 light blue. If you can only find 1978 to 1987, that should be close. You canTape off the parts you don't want painted or you can buy repop decal kits but I like to try and keep originals.

Bottom paint does not have to be black or blue or red.

I doubt that in cold saltwater up in Maine there will be aggressive bottom marine growth. Maybe just a barrier coat to protect the hull from the water and no anti-fouling paint might work—especially if you haul out the boat every few weeks and give the bottom a scrub and rinse.

PHIL is a former Maine boat and he should have some advice.

I just saw a 230 OUTRAGE wIth light gray bottom paint. It looked very good.

As for SPORT or SOURPUSS, this boat is not exactly either. It is an in-between hybrid.

Re removing bottom paint with a razor scraper: that works well if the original gel coat was not roughed-up before the bottom paint was applied. The razor must be used very carefully or it will cut scratches and long grooves into the gel coat. Gel coat at age 42 does not have a hard surface surface that it did when new; you can remove it rather fast.

I removed all the bottom paint on the transom of my 20-footer. It was incorrectly applied over glossy gel coat. It really wanted to come off by itself. The razor scraper just gave it some encouragement.

Thank you for the comments. I've been quickly convince that I should try to clean the hull, use compund and try to keep original.

May seem basic, and it also may be a function of what I discover as I try to remove it, but do I need to remove all of the bottom paint in order to apply a new coat of bottom paint?

If I assume that I will try to clean the hull, and then sand down the same are where bottom paint exists, can I apply a new bottom paint coat when most of the bottom paint is removed and sanded? Or is it important to remove all of that paint (and the base indicator paint, if there is a layer), or can I clean up the surface, and then apply paint over without removing all of the paint?

Before applying anti-fouling paint, the bottom of the hull that will be in the water is given a barrier coat.

See the owner’s manual—or read my on-line reproduction of the owner’s manual in HTML in the REFERENCE SECTION at

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/manual9-17/

And specifically see

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

As for SPORT or SOURPUSS, this boat is not exactly either. It is an in-between hybrid

. That is correct. I bought my 13' new and it was(I think) a $320 option for the wrap around railing and backrest. It is still a sport. I had the same setup on a couple of my 15's. They were still 15' Sport models with the optional wrap around railing and backrest as they never made a 15' sourpuss.

As far as paint goes. Most people sand the bottom before putting a new coat(or 2) of bottom paint on it. This keeps it smooth and reduces weight. You do not need to remove all the paint to put new paint on. If you do then you might want to see if you can get the gel to shine and go with no paint. If you remove all the paint and can't get it to shine I would then put a barrier coat and then a fresh coat(or 2) of bottom paint.

Thanks for the advice here to focus on the cleaning of the hull. I did a test run on the transom today. Used Bar keepers friend and a quick scrub and was a major improvement. I was a little hesitant to use the MaryKate in my driveway because of how strong/caustic it is (as I read more about it). Used the BKF soft scrub on the left side of photo, and spray bottle version on the right of photo. It took off almost all of the scum. and actually brightened up the bottom paint (by uncovering it), but it also took off a fair amount of the bottom paint. I think I will go at it and the paint again with a scrubber pad on drill or scrub pad on my sander. I''m guessing most of the paint will come off, and looks like gel coat underneath so i may be able to get back to that. Thanks.

You can and probably should dilute that Mary-Kate stuff with water. Or flood your driveway with water so any of the goop that drops off the boat will be diluted.

Marykate will not hurt your grass but it will turn a galvanized trailer white.

Thanks. At this point I am just using the Bar Keepers Friend, I was also worried about Mary Kate damaging concrete driveway

It will not damage concrete. It may clean it however.