On Fri, 31 Oct 2014 09:55:37 -0500, Richard
wrote:

On 10/30/2014 8:38 PM, John B. Slocomb wrote:

Richard's "blanket statement" as I remember it was something like "I
wouldn't buy a boat that had to be painted" or something similar... It
seems like a perfectly legitimate statement.

snippage

Thanks, Capt'n.

I think he may have been a bit more adamant about it. Maybe to the point
of a Never Ever! but yeah, that was about the gist of it.


Which, without going into details was pretty much what I said about my
mate "the fiberglass guy". Who is quite willing to do you a re-coating
with gel-coat. If you are willing to pay for it.

All that sanding, rubbing and polishing costs money. Even in a
developing country :-)


It all depends on your personal standards, of course.

Some people think a chalky boat is the epitome of success - because
it takes no effort to maintain. And they are perfectly right -
for them.

Way back in the days of wooden boats I read an article in one of the
U.S. magazines extolling topside paints that chalked easily. The
writer said that they really hade the boot look good, longer, as when
you scrubbed the topsides mid season the chalkiness scrubbed off
taking the dirt and crud with it.

The Maine lobster fishermen usually hauled once during the season and
one chap came up with an ingenious scheme. They, of course, beached
the boats, propped up with sticks and this guy, as soon as the tide
started going out and the sticks started taking some weight started
spraying the hull with Clorox from one of those back mounted spray
tanks. Just walked round and round spraying. When the tide was pretty
well all the way out he'd scrub the hull with a "straw Broom" and all
the weeds and shell fish would fall off. He clamed that as he didn't
have to scrape, the bottom paint wasn't damaged so he didn't have top
re-paint half way through the season :-)

I take a different tack - (or maybe "they" do?) but I adore a nice
shiny hull.

I picked up my technique from a fellow who goes by the handle
Maine Sail. He has written an awful lot about repairing and
maintaining boats, and I have joined the choir there.

The best collection is he
http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners....play.php?f=135


I bought the Ryoby variable speed buffer he recommended - and learned
to use it. I's amazing what you can bring back from the dead that way.
(For various values of dead, of course!)

I started gelcoat craziness with our Capri 18, "Spirit". The surfaces
needed wet sanding first, then polishing. That took a week in all.
Sanding, buffing and waxing. But the finish lasted for years
afterwards, with only an occasional wash and wax.

"Temptress", our Capri 26, was the national fleet flagship for several
years. I didn't need much more incentive to go overboard on her.

But that's a lot more boat. I hired out the buffing part.
Happily!

Here is a link to Maine Sail's article about bringing gelcoat back to
life: http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners....d.php?t=117266

Another phobia picked up from the same source is silicone.
It's perhaps the most misused substance on the planet - or maybe
runs a close second to 3M 4200.

My deck hardware is bedded with high quality Butyl rubber tape.
Now, note: I said High-Quality and Tape (not cheap putty mashed out to
look like tape). The putty-tape is commonly used in RV construction
where it often contributes to hard-to-find leaks. It has no place on a
boat.

I've used Bed-It butyl tape on several boats and guarantee the results.
http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners....d.php?t=117172

And help for cored deck and hull penetrations:
How to keep water out of a balsa or plywood deck core.
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/sealing_the_deck

The forty footer I owned, for some reason, had additional jib tracks
added inboard of the original tracks on the gunnels. Apparently done
by the previous owner who simply drilled holes through the deck and
bolted them down. Needless to say, the holes leaked and the plywood
core rutted in two six foot strips down the side decks, toward the
forward end of the cockpit. I finally used a 4" hand grinder and
sliced the fiberglass deck surface and removed two six foot long by
about 18 inch wide sections. The plywood had turned into a black mush.
I cleaned it out back to solid ply thinking that I could simply get
some more plywood of the same thickness to "inlay". It turned out that
the original plywood was some strange dimension that couldn't be
duplicated and I ended up with a horrible job of gluing down a layer
of ply, then building it up with epoxy filler and gluing the original
deck sections back on top. A horrible mess trying to get the whole job
smooth and fair with the old deck.

A lot of work?
Maybe.

But a job that doesn't have to be reworked all the time is worth the
extra expense and effort.
At least that's how I feel.

It all depends on your personal standards...
--
Cheers,

John B.