Advice and suggestions please.

bjroche

Hi Folks,

I am a long time lurker and have been reading the many threads with great interest. I have just bought a boat and am considering doing some work on it over the winter months. There are a few areas that need attention and I am looking for your thoughts & experience.

Pictures of the boat are here:https://picasaweb.google.com/116941389139530173978/Beano#

(1) Stanchions
Two of the stanchions are not connected at the base, the base has come away. I am thinking this is a more serious job to do and might be best left in more professional hands.

(2) Painting
Is it literally just a matter of sanding all the add on paint back to the original gelcoats and then painting on a new gelcoat. I assume the new gelcoat is a two step process. I don't underestimate tha it will be a lot of sanding. I am guessing it would be wise to get the stanchions done first.

(3) Seats, woodwork and cabin entrance.
One of the seats is disintegrating and I am wondering if I make the same again in marine plywood and paint it with a good varnish will that do? I sail mostly on a lake. Should I use a hardwood instead and then treat it differently, what wear the best with use? I would also like to get a piece of Perspex (guessing here) for the entrance. Is that the right material choice and is it a matter of measuring it and getting it cut/made?

(4) Sails.
The boat came with a number of sails, none of which match the sail plan. That is fair enough because the boat was built in 1973. I need to get some new sails and have been getting quotes. I also found the sail plan online and am thinking of just getting those made. I also found the boat manual online and currently figuring out how much (if any) mine is different.

(5) GRP
Inside I think some added extra fibreglass themselves, in places it is soft/spongy. This is the part where I am most across to ask. what should I be watching out for. I contacted some marine surveyors who said they would take a moisture reading or carry out a survey but they don't cover what I am trying to find out. Where do I go to find somebody who would know, any suggestions.

I appreciate that I should probably have included a lot more detail and that it is hard to reply with knowing but I would appreciate and suggestions.

Regards + thanks in advance,

B.

mr.mickels

congrats on the boat, a nice project you have there. You will likely get lots more advice from guys through the same thing on this forum
http://www.ybw.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=13

fergal.b

Hi bjroche congrats on the new boat. It might be better to start with one job at a time showing us photos of what it entails but I'll do a quick run through on what I think so far.

(1) if the stanchions have pulled through the fiberglass you can drill out the old holes with an oversize bit and refill with a gelcoat repair kit then redrill the holes you may also need to add a new backing plate to the underside.

(2) You cant repaint a new gelcoat with a brush but you can get it sprayed on it's not cheep so I'd say your best bet would be to sand it down and repaint with international toplac with a lot of time and work you can get just as good a finish as the gelcoat. The coppercoat looks ok and can last for about 10 years so you might get away with that.

(3) If you are making them out of marine ply and they are prone to getting wet I would coat them in epoxy resin and then varnish. you should be fine with perspex and you can cut it with a variable speed jigsaw.

(4) Dont know much about sails

(5) I would need to take a closer look at this to see if it's the fiberglass thats gone off with osmosis http://www.hotvac.com/osmosis/default.aspx or if the wooden supports under it are rotten.

Hope this helps a bit, best of luck with her

bjroche

Thank you Fergal.b, that is what I am looking for. I need to do the work work part first. Is there any particular epoxy resin I should use or avoid? I am not looking for a brand recommendation, it's just there seems to be so many out there. Is it one coat with epoxy resin and then a few of varnish? I have varnished many times but have not used epoxy resin before.

fergal.b

I use west system 105 with 205 hardner for encapsulation 2-3 coats and as it has no uv protection I use anything from 2- 7 of varnish
You can also use this for any jobs around the boat like fiberglassing or by adding 404 filler you can patch up any holes you can even get a white pigment to add to it.