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Boat out of the water after 5 years.

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RedRedWhine
Navigator

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USA
167 Posts

Initially Posted - 06/30/2008 : 08:59:52

Well Red Red Whine is out of the water. It took a while on Saturday but I got her up on the new trailer. The tongue extension did not help. I needed the extension and 20' of strap. Next time I will just use a 50' Strap. The from wheels worked great it made it very ease to pull her out of the water. The bottom was covered in muscles and we had to scrape them off at the ramp. I than took her to a friends house and started to go to work. I pressure washed the hull and got a lot more crud off. The bottom is covered in calcium deposits that attached to the hull. The only way to get it off is with a grinder and rough pad. If I go easy and keep the grinder flat I can remove the deposit and not the gel-coat. I worked for 6 hours on Sunday and got a lot of it done.

I found a few cracks in the rudder. One was at the leading edge where there looks like something is attached to the rudder. The second is between the hinge points at the leading edge.

I have uploaded a lot of pictures here:

http://s122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/bolter303/

Take a look and let me know. Thanks

Don and Kim Young
Las Vegas Nv
http://web.me.com/bolter303/Our_World/Welcome.html

Edited by - on

Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 06/30/2008 : 13:15:08

Congratulations! That first haulout is a big event. Glad the strap worked OK. Get some more and get that truck out of the water.

Edited by - on

Al
Captain

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USA
269 Posts

Response Posted - 06/30/2008 : 13:16:20

Are those the Zebra mussels that are invading all our fresh water lakes?

I have the same crack in the leading edge between the pintels of my rudder, and I think others here have it, too. It's on my list to call Catalina about.

Edited by - on

Sloop Smitten
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1181 Posts

Response Posted - 06/30/2008 : 13:52:45

I don't think they are Zebra mussels. No stripes I can see.

<b>ZEBRA Mussels</b>

Edited by - Sloop Smitten on 06/30/2008 13:55:11

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 06/30/2008 : 16:10:50

What was your top speed? 2kts?

Edited by - on

piseas
Former Treasurer

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USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 06/30/2008 : 16:18:10

Seriously, that's enough mussels to open a restaurant!

How long did you say since last bottom clean?
Steve A

Edited by - on

RedRedWhine
Navigator

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USA
167 Posts

Response Posted - 06/30/2008 : 16:32:18

We have both the zebra and the other kind I think they are called quantis or something like that. The boat was droped into the lake by the Catalina Dealer in Marina Del Rey. The PO did not buy a trailer and it was done in December of 2003. They did not put a bottom job on her becuase they did not think they needed it because it was in fresh water. THere has always been a little growth since I have owned her but the muscles are new int he past year. It is a nightmare to deal with them. I had a lot of park rangers come up and ask what I was doing. THey wanted to know where I was going with the boat and that the boat needed to be inspected before I left the lake. Well I drove out of the lake with it still covered in muscles and no one stopped me. I know that when I went to California the other weekend Ihad to stop at the check point in Yermo and they looked in my kayak to make sure I was not trans porting them.

My top speed very slow. The speedo did not work covered in muscles, would not spin. If I had to guess 4-4.5 knots was the best I could make. Lots of drag...

As for the truck I always wanted to be a U-Boat commander. I will not get it that wet the next time.

Edited by - on

piseas
Former Treasurer

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USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 06/30/2008 : 17:05:26

Don, I am in CA and bought my 03 from Catalina dealer in MDR as well. Also no trailer. Anyway, I keep in slip in Orange County and of course have bottom cleaned every month. I have seen muscles on boats here that look like they have never moved.
Steve A

Edited by - on

Russ.Johnson
Commodore

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USA
843 Posts

Response Posted - 06/30/2008 : 23:37:53

Those are Quagga mussels.
The mussel problem is so bad that California is trying to stop them from getting into the state.

This year Lake county created a mandatory inspection process because the state wasn't moving fast enough.
[url="http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/DepartmentDirectory/Water_Resources/Mussel_Prevention.htm"]Lake County Invasive Mussel Prevention Program[/url]

Don, you seem like a nice guy, but please don't come to California.

Edited by - on

RedRedWhine
Navigator

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USA
167 Posts

Response Posted - 07/01/2008 : 08:13:12

Russ,

You are right about two things. They are Quagga muscles and I am a nice guy. The problem is that the female lays about a million eggs and they are microscopic. No matter how much you try to clean the boat and trailer there is still a chance they will make it to the next lake. The only thing you can do here is let it sit in the sun for a few days, not much can survive the 110 heat. The question is I know they are a fresh water muscle, but could the survive in salt water. If I am going to drive to California and pay the high price for gas I am going in saltwater.

Edited by - on

britinusa
Web Editor

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USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 07/01/2008 : 08:23:26

Isn't there some chemical spray that could be applied when pulling the boat to kill the stuff? How about an infrared beam, or someit?

Paul

Edited by - on

Stardog
Captain

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USA
319 Posts

Response Posted - 07/01/2008 : 09:30:04

I'm surprised the PO did not paint the bottom, I've never heard of a boat that stays in fresh water year-round without bottom paint. I guess you'll be taking care of that now.

Having seen your photos, I'm very happy to not have to deal with mussels, it looks like a daunting job to remove them. I'm sure your boat will be much happier and faster with a new bottom job.

Edited by - on

Steve Blackburn
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
1091 Posts

Response Posted - 07/01/2008 : 14:26:32

I was thinking the same as Paul. Wouldn't bleach do the trick with blasts from a power washer in between?

Edited by - Steve Blackburn on 07/01/2008 14:27:08

Al
Captain

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USA
269 Posts

Response Posted - 07/01/2008 : 15:02:45

Unfortunatly, these damn mussels are something we all, and in particular Don and Kim, need to get familiar with. Here's a couple more good links:
http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=95
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/invasives/quaggamussel/

Edited by - on

RedRedWhine
Navigator

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USA
167 Posts

Response Posted - 07/01/2008 : 23:16:17

Hey,

Tried Bleach, vinegar, CLR, Lime away. just about everything. The muscles came off with just the scraper and pressure washer. The pressure washer got some of the hard calcium deposits off but not a lot. I have about another 3 hours or grinding. After that I need to do the sanding to smooth things out. I hope to pain on Saturday. My friend and I worked on laying a new layer of fiberglass on the rudder. I will take some more pictures tomorrow.

I looked at the links for the muscles. I was told that I had to have my boat decontaminated by the company that owns the marina. hey told me it would cost about $200. I told them that they were nuts and I would do it myself.

Edited by - on

Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 07/02/2008 : 12:53:56

Every time I see that photo of scraping off the mussels I am amazed. You will feel great when the boat is all prepped an painted! It is a fine looking boat and the trailer looks great too. Sorry your initiation involves so much labor. Sounds like you have a good friend.

Edited by - on

RedRedWhine
Navigator

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USA
167 Posts

Response Posted - 07/02/2008 : 23:17:44

Hey all Here is a Update.

The grinding is complete. I can't lift my arms but she looks great. The next step is to start the sanding with 80 grit to 100 grit sand paper. I hope to have that done later tomorrow evening. The rudder has a new layer of glass on both sides. Just need to sand the rudder as well. I will coat the bottoms side with the same bottom paint and the top part with a epoxy paint.

The question I have for all of you smart people out there is what is a good epoxy paint to use. I need to paint the top of the rudder as well as between the blue stripe and the bottom paint. I had to grind and sand a little over the water line to get all the stuff off. This has dulled the gel-coat in this area. Does the bottom paint come above the water line. I thought that if it is above the water line it will oxidize. What are your thoughts.

Thanks for the help. Here is the link to the new pictures.

http://s122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/bolter303/Boatwork/

Edited by - on

Steve Blackburn
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
1091 Posts

Response Posted - 07/03/2008 : 00:35:55

Don, 80 grit on your white hull is way too low. Believe me I know, I just redid the bottom of my boat from old ablative paint to new VC-17. With 80 grit you will see big swirl marks. What bottom paint are you planning to use? VC-17 is so thin that you will easily see the swirl marks once painted with 80 grit, even with 150 grit in some areas. I suggest 150-200 grit no less. Most of use use a 1" tape just below the large blue water line. The bottom paint will be about 1-2" above the water this way. I also dulled the gelcoat in the area 1" below the large blue waterline strip. To remedy this I polished with 400 wet sandpaper then 600 and finaly rubbing compound all by hand. You can sand over the large blue stripe lightly with the wet sandpaper it's not a decal.

Here is a picture of 80 grit on my hull using an orbital sander dry. When I saw this I stopped and changed my method. Note the picutre is very zoomed in, the width is about 4 inches:

The top part is the original gelcoat over the water line. After sanding again with 150 grit (dry) I was fine and ready for my new paint. Interlux suggests 220 I believe, follow the paint manufacters recommendations.

I rebuilt my rudder and keel with MarineTex very carefully. White MarineTex is slightly more gray than our white gelcoat. So just make sure that if you are to use MarineTex that it will be in an area where you will paint over.

Another good idea while you have it bare bottom is to check for weak spots. In my case I used a high presure washer 3600 PSI with the 0 degree nozzle. In some areas I found weak spots where the gelcoat removed itself to the size of 1.5 inches round by 2/16 deep. I was very happy to find them then and used MarineTex for the repair which is in fact better than the gelcoat. Maybe you could lightly tap with a hammer and listen, but I do admit it's a lot of surface to cover. My hull is ship shape now.

Picture of gelcoat defect found by the presure washer. Note this is not a blister:

I found about 5 of these total.

Edited by - Steve Blackburn on 07/03/2008 01:02:02

Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 07/03/2008 : 10:34:57

My boat has about 1" between the stripe and the bottom paint (VC17M).

I echo Steve's concern about going with too low a grit. You're boat looks great. You and your friend did a yeoman's job on that bottom. I have used gelcoat to refinish an area. Got it from www.minicraft.com but that will take a week to get to you. My guess is that any quality marine paint will be fine for your rudder.

Edited by - on

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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1520 Posts

Response Posted - 07/03/2008 : 12:17:14

Regarding your rudder and it's repair ---

I also had a crack around the outside and a horizontal crack at the bottom pintle. After reading a bunch of threads on the forum about rudders & fiberglass, I decided to cut it open, dry it out, grind out the center of the rudder around the bottom pintle on both sides, and rebuild the center with a number of increasingly overlapping layers of fiberglass using the West System. Then I put on a layer of epoxy and then paint.

I can't tell from your description whether you did a major rebuild or just filled in the cracks.

In my case, I knew the rudder would someday split in half at the waterline if I did not take the effort to do a major repair. The rudder experiences large forces under sail, and I feel that it's nice to keep it attached to my boat.

Happy sailing ... with a new bottom.

Edited by - on

RedRedWhine
Navigator

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USA
167 Posts

Response Posted - 07/05/2008 : 23:31:58

Hey Guys,

All is going well. The rudder job is just about done. I laid two layers of fiber glass over the rudder and a good coat of resin. Still have a little sanding to do and than paint.

The hull is just about done. I adjusted the boat on two supports and removed the front and rear pads for painting. We hit the hull with 100-120 grit sand paper. We than put three coats of paint on her. The last coat we let dry for about 3 hours. Than we re-adjusted the boat. We put a sheet of wax paper between the pads and the boat. I think it was a little soft still and stuck to the paper a little. I will have to re-adjust the boat and fix that. All in all she looks great. A lot faster just sitting there with the new paint versus the muscles. Have a look and I will send more pics soon.

http://s122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/bolter303/Finished/

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 07/05/2008 : 23:42:18

Don,
Nicely done! RRW looks great! You've done a great job of restoring the hull in a very short time. You'll see a huge difference in boat speed when you get her back in the water.

Congratulations.

Edited by - on

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