fixing cold-molded mahogany

[Bob Fewkes]

International 10 sq. m. Canoe - built by Avalon, UK ca. 1967. spent a lot of time removing old paint - two coats white, and there's still a coat of Robins Egg blue in intimate contact with the wood. 1. Is there a good way to seal the centerboard and rudder wells without getting the old paint out? 2. What is the likely compatibility of the RE blue with polyurethane or two-part epoxy?

[Bruce Hooke]

Without removing the old paint I think your best bet would be to simply apply standard marine enamel paint. Epoxy and similar products would probably stick to the old paint in the short term but ultimately the epoxy coating would be very compromised because it would only be attached to a relatively weak layer of paint, rather than being bonded straight to the wood. The old paint may seem like it is very solid but it would still be very much the weak link if you coated it with epoxy.

Enamal paint should protect the boat just fine as long as you keep it up. As far as places like the centerboard trunk go, nothing will stick if there is loose paint or other gunk up there. If you can get down to a sound, but still painted surface, then again I would say just go with more enamal paint...