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kaferhaus
1st Mate

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40 Posts

Initially Posted - 11/27/2008 : 17:49:29

I aquired a 1978 SR/FK back in February of this year.

The boat has a few "issues" which I'll detail below. I don't have much money invested in this boat nor do I have the means to spend a bunch of money on it. However after contemplating selling it I "think" I've decided to keep it. What I'm asking is how to best deal with the few issues the boat has without dropping a bunch of money into it that I simply don't have.

The boat has numerous stress cracks in the gel coat in two areas. One is the area just above the forward hatch and the other is in the cockpit... the cockpit has numerous areas with gel coat cracking, some of these are quite deep, all of them are unsightly. If I understand correctly, these have little to do with any strength issues.... nothing seems to flex in the cockpit area when walking on it. I'd like to make the boat a bit more attractive by either correcting or camoflauging them (spelling..)

Second the boat has spinaker control lines running aft to the cockpit.. can't I convert this to lead the halyards to the cockpit? Seems like it would be easy enough to do. I never use the spinaker anyway as the winds here are usually too stiff to use one.

Third the anchor hatch while present and in one piece is a wreck... anyone made their own replacement? This also doesn't seem like it would be that difficult to do... make a male mold out of plywood maybe 1/8" undersize and just lay it up?

Fourth the boat was used maybe 3 or 4 times by the previous owner in the 6yrs he owned it... it sat in a slip the entire time and while the bottom is fine there are large nasty brown/rust colored stains above the water line that extend well over a foot up in spots. I've sprayed every cleaner I can find on these to little benefit.... any ideas on handling that?

All the rigging is in good shape the boat came with 2 mail sails, one fully battened (the one I use) a 155 genoa, storm sail and spinaker... I doubt the spinaker has been flown more than a few times since it was new... The 110 jib that came with the boat is in bad shape and the local sail loft (mom and pop operation) wanted $400 or so to fix it.... well I can near buy a new one for that so that will be a future purchase if I don't find a good condition used one...however the same shop wanted $8 each for hanks... I bought those (for the Genoa) for $5 each from a marine supply house right down the road...

The cabin hatch boards are toast... they've obviously been poorly repaired at some prior time. Last I checked a new set are near $400... couldn't these be made from marine plywood and painted? I have a fully equipped woodworking shop... fabricating them would be easy... but I priced rough sawn teak lumber.... $18 a bd ft... rediculous... likely $180 and the lumber would have to be planed and jointed before you could make the first board.

Those are the pressing things... the good is the boat sails great is loads of fun, the Honda outboard (2005 9.9 4strk)is bullet proof and my slip rent is zero.

I'm just pretty much embarassed to take anyone out on it because of the hull stains and gel coat cracks in the cockpit.

As soon as I can get the stains off the hull, I'll paint the boat topsides and hull above the waterline.

Any hints for a poor guy would be appreciated.

Steven Reeves
Dauphin Island, Alabama

Edited by - on

Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 11/27/2008 : 20:14:18

1. Spiders in the gelcoat can be dremeled and refilled with gelcoat, but they will reappear. Many of us just live with them.
2. Depends on the components and arrangement. You need vertical turning blocks to lead the halyards out to horizontal turning blocks or a deck organizer to lead them aft to fairleads and clutches, jam cleats, or cleats.
3. A straightforward solution.
4. FSR (Fiberglass Stain Remover), oxalic acid, or SoftScrub and an abrasive spongepad.
5. Do everything you can to restore the gelcoat before resorting to paint. A pass with a power washer (keep it moving), scrub with an abrasive spongepad and West Marine Crystal boat soap. then try Starbrite Fiberglass Color Restorer (follow the directions). You might be amazed. Once you paint, you will continue to paint.

Edited by - on

kaferhaus
1st Mate

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40 Posts

Response Posted - 11/27/2008 : 20:28:46

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">5. Do everything you can to restore the gelcoat before resorting to paint. A pass with a power washer (keep it moving), scrub with an abrasive spongepad and West Marine Crystal boat soap. then try Starbrite Fiberglass Color Restorer (follow the directions). You might be amazed. Once you paint, you will continue to paint.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Unfortunately the boat has already been painted by the previous owner and he did a poor job of prep before he painted it as it has some adhesion issues in some areas (cockpit mostly)

And it appears that the hull was once blue... don't know if it was paint or the gell coat was that color... although I've never seen a C25 with any color hull than white so likely it was a previous paint color.

Edited by - kaferhaus on 11/27/2008 20:29:54

kaferhaus
1st Mate

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40 Posts

Response Posted - 11/27/2008 : 20:31:42

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">2. Depends on the components and arrangement. You need vertical turning blocks to lead the halyards out to horizontal turning blocks or a deck organizer to lead them aft to fairleads and clutches, jam cleats, or cleats.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

All of that is in place... the spinaker lines run through them now.

Edited by - on

Sloop Smitten
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1181 Posts

Response Posted - 11/27/2008 : 23:26:06

I have used mahogany to make items for my boat instead of teak. Readily available and looks great when Cetol is applied. I'm sure it would work for a new anchor locker cover or hatch boards. If the cock-pit has already been painted sand it smooth, fill the cracks with marine-tek and repaint it. Make it manageable. Take on one repair at a time so you don't become overwhelmed. Don't forget to leave time to go sailing. I have the same year boat and mine was painted by a previous owner. It requires annual maintenance. Order of priority - safety, usability, aesthetics.

Edited by - on

Happy D
Admiral

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921 Posts

Response Posted - 11/28/2008 : 06:36:59

Back in the 70's, they applied the gelcoat thick. It cracked. As long as the fiberglass under the gelcoat is in tact, worry about something else. I noticed on new travel trailer, the gelcoat is so thin you can see the CSM under it. Big difference from when they used to pour it to the molds.

To clean the fiberglass, use [url="http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=2339"]On & Off[/url]. Then, either polish the hull, or use [url="http://www.marinestore.com/vertglas-images.html?cart=3310700500173212"]Vertglass[/url] Your household cleaners aren't going to get it.

Have a look at [url="http://www.sailrite.com/"]Sailrite.[/url] You can buy the materials you need to patch your sails for now. It doesn't matter what they look like, as long as they work until you can buy new ones. Keep your ear to the ground because used sails come along all the time. It’s all about eBay.

You can make companionway drop boards out of anything. I have some ¼” Lexan that you could use to make them out of and frame them in teak salvaged from the old drop boards. Mahogany isn’t cheap either, but teak is out of this world. I dropped $100.00 to make mine, but I love teak.

Making a new anchor locker lid requires a lot of materials. Anything half assed will look half assed forever.

My two cents.

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 11/28/2008 : 07:48:02

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by kaferhaus
 there are large nasty brown/rust colored stains above the water line that extend well over a foot up in spots. I've sprayed every cleaner I can find on these to little benefit.... any ideas on handling that?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

If the boat is on land, paint toilet bowl cleaner on the stains, let it sit for 5-10 minutes to allow it to work its magic, then hose off. Sometimes before rinsing, I'll take a green sponge/scrubby and lightly go over more tenacious areas. (be careful with toilet bowl cleaner, or other similar acids, around metals)

Edited by - on

kaferhaus
1st Mate

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40 Posts

Response Posted - 11/28/2008 : 08:42:57

The boat is in the water. And the hull is painted...so i need to be careful of what chemical(s) I use so that they don't remove the paint along with the stains...

I can't find any information on the "on-off" cleaner that says whether or not it's safe for painted surfaces...

I found that West Marine carries it also and they have several stores here locally... I'll make a trip over to one of them and see if the label has more information than the websites do..

I'll check on the toilet bowl cleaners too...

I have a pelican dinghy that will allow me to do the scrubbing from the water.

You guys have been a big help, keep the ideas coming!!

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 11/28/2008 : 11:10:30

>"I convert this to lead the halyards to the cockpit? Seems like it would be easy enough to do."

Certainly. Should work fine.

>"numerous stress cracks in the gel coat in two areas"

'V' slightly with a dremel (or similar) tool and fill with marine-tex tinted to match the existing color... of overpaint if the surface has already been painted. Sand smooth with 600 grit, buff out and wax. Marine supply stores sell this in kit form (filler plus tint). There are quite a few articles on the web about boat restoration that detail this process.

>"Third the anchor hatch while present and in one piece is a wreck..."

Always thought a hatch crafted out of mahogany or teak would be gorgeous. If you're going to go to the trouble to make a mould... why not?

>"The 110 jib that came with the boat is in bad shape... "

Visit Sailrite.com Good outfit... sail kits, materials for repair, advice, how-to books, etc etc.

>The cabin hatch boards are toast...>

As was mentioned elsewhere... Mahogany (or other hardwood) finished with Cetol. Make each one out of three pieces. Body with grain across, end pieces (that fit into the 'slides') with grain in the vertical axis. Helps keep them from warping due to the difference in heat/moisture between the inside and outside of the cabin. You could do plywood... saturate with thinned epoxy to refusal when finished and paint.

"large nasty brown/rust colored stains above the water line that extend well over a foot up in spots. "

If this is paint, the stains have probably penetrated into it and you probably won't get rid of them short of sanding all the paint off. I would simply repaint. Tthis can be done in the water when tied to a dock.

Sand smooth and prep well. Then apply a topsides paint with the roll and tip technique. Takes two people... one applying with a 3" foam roller, one coming behind and 'tipping' (smoothing) with a foam brush. You need to keep moving to retain the wet edge. Awlgrip, Sterling, (bucks up paints)... Easypoxy (Pettit) or Brghtsides (Interlux) are less expensive but still pretty good. Ther are how-to articles on the web. You'll be amazed at how quickly a coat of paint goes on.

A bit of TLC, elbow grease, not a lot of money and you'll have a vessel in Bristol condition.

>

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 11/28/2008 : 11:24:14

As a long-term strategy, you might want to think about stripping the paint and restoring the gelcoat underneath. A combination of light-duty compounding and either Vertglas or Poly Glow can do amazing things. Painting over poor paint jobs (above the waterline) is just adding to a mistake that should never have been made in the first place. Try a little Peel-Away or other fiberglass-friendly stripper on some representative areas and see what happens.

As mentioned, the "stress cracks" (hopefully just what we call "spider cracks" in the gelcoat, and not stress cracks in the laminate, can be opened up a little and filled with the gelcoat patch you can buy in tubes. Build it up a little and then sand down with very fine paper. The color might not be perfect (too white), but it'll look better than a black crack.

Finally, remember that the friends you bring aboard will probably only notice these things if you point them out. You know...
"We like your boat!"
"Thanks, but it needs a lot of work--look at this..."

Boat years are sorta like dog years, except the multiple is more like 2 or 2.5. You can do a heroic restoration, but the result might not be worth what you put into it or could spend better on a better-cared-for boat.

Edited by - on

Happy D
Admiral

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921 Posts

Response Posted - 11/28/2008 : 13:03:04

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">A bit of TLC, elbow grease, not a lot of money and you'll have a vessel in Bristol condition.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Or in my case,lots and lots of money and I ain't there yet, LOL.
I've spent so much money I could have bought two C25's in the water.

However, I've only used the finest materials and have re-gelcoated the boottop three times trying to get it right. I finally got it down pat. New gelcoat on the topsides in the spring and she'll be a thing of beauty, sitting in the boat shop. LOL

I would not wish re-gelcoating a boat to anyone, unless it is a very expensive boat. So far the work I've done is gorgous and one of these days I show it off.

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Boat years are sorta like dog years, except the multiple is more like 2 or 2.5.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

That is 7 years for every 2 boat years so it equals 14 years to one.

And I thought Nuclear time was slow, jeez...

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 11/28/2008 : 14:29:47

"finest materials and have re-gelcoated the boottop three times "

A labor of love and a matter of pride...
It's not like they fill our caskets with leftover money anyway.

Edited by - on

kaferhaus
1st Mate

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40 Posts

Response Posted - 11/28/2008 : 15:06:38

Happy D..... your email is bouncing

Edited by - on

Happy D
Admiral

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921 Posts

Response Posted - 11/28/2008 : 16:16:53

I got it Steve.

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