Once I had the keel removed, I placed the hull back on the
trailer, keel side up, so I could inspect and refurbish the hull. The first
thing I wanted to do was strengthen the join between the hull and the keel
trunk so I laid Glass Cloth along both sides of the keel trunk. The first attempt
was to place a strip of Glass Matt in between the Cloth in a fold. That proved
to be a real pain to get it to lay the way I wanted as the Cloth would not fold
well and kept opening up. The second attempt was done by laying one piece of Cloth
followed by a strip of Matt and another layer of Cloth. That seemed to work better
but was not the finished seam that I really wanted. Oh well, I have moved on. I
now only need to sand the second side as it has an unfinished Cloth edge up in
the trunk. I am not sure I needed to do that but as I was already there and
considering the state of the hull in all other aspects, I figured Why Not?
Secondly, what I found was not in anything I had read about.
At the point where the support brackets for the mast support beam connected to
the hull and at the spots where the support brackets for the keel truck sat on
the hull, the hull had given way and bowed outward (like a bubble). In the case of the mast support beam
brackets, I just left them alone but on the bottom of the hull near the
centerboard keel trunk, it looked like 4 speed bumps in the hull perpendicular
to the length of the hull. I could not sand the high points down as that would
have gone through the hull so I attempted to reduce the height on these bumps
by ramping up from both sides. I did this on one (as it was near 3/8s of an
inch) with layers of Glass Mat in a series of ever shorter layers. Then I
finished off with layers of fiberglass bondo. The result was not a racing hull
but clearly, an improvement.
After accomplishing this effect to my satisfaction (when it
comes to sanding, I am easily satisfied seeing no need to spend more effort
than absolutely necessary), I was ready to paint, or so I thought. But when I
inspected the bow, I found that it had been rammed into something (a dock?) and
had 2 areas, one 7 inches long and one 4
inches long that had been shattered, filled from the inside with silicone,
patched on the outside with bondo and glassed over with one layer of cloth.
After sanding away the layer of cloth, the bondo cracked and literally fell
out. So I ground down the area with my DeWalt grinder and a 60 grit sanding
wheel. Then I applied one layer of cloth & West Marine Epoxy resin to the
outside to give me something to work on. I could not now get to the inside
without removing the bulkhead I had so substantially built previously. Then I began to build up the bow with layers
of Glass Matt. After getting about ½ the fill I wanted, I laid another piece of
Glass Cloth. Again, more layers of Matt and finally 2 more layers of Cloth. I
am just about there now and am going to lay a couple more layers of Matt and
follow with one more layer of Cloth. The bow is now as hard as a rock and should
withstand an amateur docking (of which I am capable). I have even considered
putting a strip of oak on the bow but that is just too much effort to look
pretty. I hope to finish that today and go over the hull one more time with 100
grit just to smooth it out that little bit more. I am not interested in using
200, then 400, and then wet sanding as I am not building a racing machine.
As far as paint goes, I have purchased from West Marine, “InterLux
Brightside” topside (meaning deck or hull above the waterline) Hatteras white. I
plan to roll this on by hand. As this boat will only sail for a few hours per trip
(and likely in inland lake waters), be washed off and trailer kept in the
driveway, I see no need to use true bottom paint. I can’t find much reading
material about painting boats even in all the small boat building articles
available, at least none I can understand and apply to my situation. Most all send
time on the prep work which the effect depends on the amount of time you put in
(refer to my previous statement that 60 – 100 grit is good enough for me). I
used this paint once before on my Laguna 18 because someone ran into me on the
freeway (another story) and I absolutely loved the color. I think this paint will
give the boat a softer “New England Classic” feel about it. Well here are the
pics so far. I will add to this post with more pics as I finish off the hull. I
just wanted to get this post started with pics up to now.
Finally !!! A painted Hull !!!
I want to thank the guys for helping me flip the boat back over so I can now finish off the inside.
Mike Parker, Scotty Baker, Barry Brooks & my neighbor Gary. Thanks guys !
