durable marine type paint

[Mike Vogdes]

Does anyone know what they paint the interior of the Carolina Skiff boats with?

Someone had given me a 13' f%#@%G*?$$ hull motor and trailer that is very similar to a Boston Waler. It has a wet plywood sole and underneath the plywood is foam flotation. There is some minor delamination between the foam and the plywood in some spots. My plan is to core some holes thru the plywood and foam in the delaminated areas and flip the hull upside down and vac the moisture out.

After the hull has dried out I was thinking of bonding the foam and ply back together with spray foam insulation and then wood, sand and reglass the sole with epoxy and cloth where needed.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this project but I would like to wind up with a durable finish on the inside that is easy to care for. The paint material I'm thinking of is widely used in the marine industry, but I have never seen it for sale anywhere. It is very similar looking to trunk paint in the automobile industry.

The guy who gave me this boat lost intrest in it and left it in his backyard to die a slow death. It was full of wet leaves. The up side is it came with a '96 25hp Mercury and a nice trailer. After spending a couple of hours on the motor it runs like new, the trailer is fine as is.

Of course like the rest of you woodenboat maniacs my first thought was to loose the hull and build a suitable wood boat for that fine motor and trailer, however after looking at this for a while it looks like it might be worth a couple bucks fixed up.

Your thoughts and coments welcome..

[On Vacation]

Mike, if the engine runs and is in good condition, remove, and save the trailer and save yourself a large amount of grief. Buy a new hull of simular size. FORGET IT.!!!!!!! It doesn't have to be wood, just throw the boat away. You will not like the outcome and the time and energy spent on this project.

The inside is gelcoat and webbing solution of polyester resin.

No one can compete with these prices. You will find the hull is soaked unless you are in the 1 percent.
http://www.edsmarinesuperstore.com/caroskif.htm

[ 06-17-2002, 09:02 PM: Message edited by: oyster ]

[Buddy Sharpton]

Can you weigh the boat and trailer on a truck scale, then the trailer alone to find weight? Compare to manufacturer's specs and get a fair idea of how much extra weight, extra water , is in this wood and foam. Ask the manufacturer what kind of foam, particularly will it absorb water, and does it lose structural integrity if wet. Unlike a Boston Whaler, I believe this foam is for flotation only, not structural, and is possibly able to absorb water. On the Whaler, the foam density is such you have a none water absorbent foam boat of a density similar to balsa wood with a nice fiberglass skin to protect it, perfectly OK to gouge off hunks of skin and carry on.

If it's not a huge amount of water , maybe you should go for the spots as you say. Don't think foam will rebond that plywood. Use epoxy which can be loaded into syringes and squirted where you need it down 1/8 holes very neatly. I would overlay the repair with Dynel and epoxy. Epoxy for sure. Then paint with Two part enamel a nice compatable color and druve on. You'll never match the spider webbing without doing the whole interior, so why go that way Is the plywood basically sound, because that and the fiberglass skin are what is structural. The plywood in fact in Whalers is only to give wood screws a way to attach the various consoles, seats and such. Might be the case in this boat too so all you're risking is hauling around extra weight. Bet its not ready to break up
You might get years of life out of maybe $150 - 200 in materials and twenty hours of work. I

[Figment]

I've been told that rubbing alcohol is a good way to remove water from foam. alcohol is heavier than water, therefore it displaces water, and then it evaporates to leave a dry foam.

I've never tried it myself, but I saw it done once on a friend's boat. the situation there was that a foam-sandwich deck had absorbed some water through a fastener hole for a piece of deck hardware, which eventually pulled away from the deck. the alcohol trick was used to displace the water prior to injecting epoxy to fill the hole.

my sense is that practical applications for this process are limited in size, but I thought it might save you some grief in some of your smaller areas.