Clot:
This actually was a custom-made sailing dinghy. My father had it
on his cabin cruiser when they went to the 1939 World's Fair in NY.
It has a lot of freeboard, very practical in the chop here on Cape
Cod, MA, US. It was punctured in a couple of places during a
hurricane, but my father patched it.
I too am concerned about trapping water, which may be a good
reason not to do this. However, with fiberglass patches applied
liberally over the years, particularly where the sides meet the
bottom, and still no serious rot anywhere, I am inclined to be
somewhat less concerned. However, I will consider your thoughts
carefully.
Please note that I do not have the time or inclination to do any
kind of fine finish work on this boat. My goal is simply to keep it
leak-free and in one piece.
Thanks very much for your thoughts.
Frank
On Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:29:11 +0100, "Clot"
wrote:
frank1492 wrote:
I have an old plywood rowboat which periodically is repaired with
fiberglass cloth. This has worked very welll- the boat is now about 70
years old!
I just did some minor repair work including bottom painting and
fiberglassing. The bottom is still quite rough as over the years there
have been many layers of paint which has peeled off unevenly.
Even heavy sanding won't fix it completely.
For years it has seemed to me that painting the entire bottom with
fiberglass resin (no cloth) would make an extremely durable and
water-resistant primer, to be painted over with polyurethane marine
paint.
Is there any reason this shouldn't work really well?
That is historic and should be preserved! I recall plywood being used for
sailing dinghies in the late 40s here in the UK but not before WWII. I'd be
loath to do what you are proposing.
I sanded down many dinghies of the 50s era and when not wishing to explore
too deeply used stopper to smooth off the surface. I could feather that down
so smooth that I could get a fine finish to the paintwork.
I could easily be wrong but wonder whether you might be creating a layer
that would be pierced and trap water?
The nearest that I could find to stopper these days is Sikkens.
http://www.sikkens.co.uk/en/Products...Woodfiller.htm