Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Now what

Wondering what to do with the bottom of my boat. Finally got the interior all fixed up and painted. Now, noticed the bottom has split in several areas...looks like where the wood has simply flexed from movement over time. Plan is to epoxy over those areas and then sand it down. Question is, what paint do is use over that? Is there a special paint, anti-fouling paint, or other type to use across the entire bottom? Thanks in advance.

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Permalink Reply by lhedrick on June 8, 2012 at 9:53am

Just remember that if you try to work with 20 ounce fabric, make sure you have a helper of 2. I have worked with 17 ounce kevlar and biaxial glass alone and it's difficult. The stuff is thick and can be difficult to wet out. Make sure you are ready and keep moving. Don't do it on a hot day. If it's summer start early in the morning when it's cool. It's a big help to have one person mixing and the others moving the resin. When I last used 17 ounce biaxial cloth I did it in a 60 degree shop. On a hot summer afternoon working alone I would have been in trouble.

One thing for sure use slow curing hardener so you have more time. If you mix too large a a batch (like 3 cups or more) and the chemical reaction starts heating up the epoxy can start to gel and make it almost impossible to wet out the glass and then you will have a big problem.

You can do it just get some help and work on a cold day, no fast hardener and modest batch size to start.

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Permalink Reply by thomas schumacher on June 9, 2012 at 7:30pm

Thanks for all the insight. A big help. It makes sense. I appreciate your advice and I will have plenty of work ahead of me.

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Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on June 9, 2012 at 8:18pm

Thomas,

Any Pictures yet? Would like to see it.

phil w.

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Permalink Reply by thomas schumacher on June 10, 2012 at 5:55pm

Hey Phil, I posted some pics on the photo page under thomas schumacher. Check it out. Any ideas on where my boat may have come from and what age and style, I'd be curious to know. I've been told early 60's and that it came from Oregon but I just don't know of any way to prove or disprove that. I told Rick to take a look too.