When we got the boat out of the water for winter storage, it was amazing to see and feel how many layers of paint were still on there - in places. We also wanted to know what was under the remaining paint. In other words, were there cracks and blisters that would have to be repaired.
Having never stripped the bottom of a fiberglass boat before and knowing that we had a long list of things to do over the winter, we hired the marina's fiberglass repair guy to strip the bottom.
Beginning in mid-January, Bernie (the fiberglass guy) stripped off all of the paint using just hand scraper. Over about four weeks, he removed two ten gallon buckets of old paint, which he had collected in a tarp.
Every time I saw him on weekends, he'd tell me something about what he was doing. Were the blisters? No, he didn't find any but didn't expect to find on a Silverton of this age. He did find some tiny cracks near the bow that were hard for me to see.
"Nothing to worry about but I'll fix them anyway," was his response.
I was amazed at how smooth the bottom of the boat was but Bernie said there was more to do. Over the next week, he sanded the entire bottom using 100-grit sandpaper. This revealed every little nick and Bernie filled and restored the Gelcoat to every one of them. He also found some other spots that needed attention on the boat and repaired them as well.
Here's the newly smooth bottom:
The recommendation for painting is one coat of Interlux Bottom Coat and two coats of ablative bottom paint - in a different color - over that. Can't wait to start that job but we're told the temperature has to be consistently over 40 degrees before the paint can be applied. We'll also repaint that boot stripe in the same brown as used on the accent stripes on the cabin sides.
Bernie is a boating resource and we're listening to everything he has to say. He knows more about fiberglass boats that we'll ever know and that's not much considering that we've never owned one before.
Bernie must be one tough son of a gun to work outside in January. He must also have one really good survival suit!
ReplyDeleteBernie is a Canadian who has worked building boats as well as repairing them. He has a head of wirey gray hair that often contains fiberglass dust. He works in lots of places besides PRM. I think those who know him trust him. He complains about the cold but he certainly knows how to workin it. I would agree in classifying him as one tough son-of-a-gun.
ReplyDeleteLast weekend, he told me about repairing a 37 ft. Silverton that had a leaking gas tank. The estimate to tear out the engines and part of the salon door to get the tank out was $20,000. Bernie recommended cutting out a portion of the hull and taking the tank out that way, which is what he did. The tank was repired and reinstalled and Bernie put the cut-out section of the hull back in place with some additional reinforcement. He offered to show me the boat, which is back at PRM for winter storage. Bernie's charge for this major surgery was $2,000.
If I'm going to learn anything about fiberglass boats, I think Bernie will be an excellent resource.
wow, I hope the owner of the boat gave Bernie a huge tip! That's a big savings (although I'd be a little nervous the first time this boat encountered rough weather).
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