I had no idea what I was in for. I have refinished dining and coffee tables, worked construction part time to pay for college, and even spent a solid month refinishing the wood floors in my house. I thought the seemingly simple leak around the chine would take mabe a weekend or so to repair. Seriously. I thought it would be simple. Laugh all you want. I deserve it.
Now to the task at hand. I removed the interior, the UHMW bottom, and sanded the bottom and sides. What I found during all of this is that the boat (built in the early 90s by a hack) was built using drywall screws and subflooring ringshank nails. Seriously. Drywall screws and ringshank nails. Fortunately, the ringshank nails had lost all of their 'rings' via rust and the screws mostly pulled right out. Luckily, the plywood only had some minor discoloration where the screws and nails had been applied. Randy at Tatman Boats advice was to clean out any soft material around the holes and repair. I did just that. Other than that the plywood and boat itself is as solid as any other.
When I removed the chine cap I removed some veneer from the sides. I have applied up to three coats of a very thick mixture of epoxy (trying to keep it from sagging) in key areas. I also applied some epoxy to the sides because the grain had seperated a bit and I want the paint to set and cure like glass. This weekend I will finish sanding both sides as well as the bottom. I think next weekend I will be painting.....any ideas for the type of paint???
I have attached some pictures of my progress.......thanks for all of your help and advice!!!! Much appreciated!
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