1979 J/24 clean-up

[G0ri11@]

I've had my J for a little under a year. She's been repainted and had some minor mechanical fixes and is sailing great. Now, I'm trying to clean up the cabin and do a few minor superficial repairs.

First, the shelves on both sides had some kind of fire damage where ancient wiring obviously burned the wood at some point. It's very minor and there's no damage to the adjacent fiberglass; but, the wood is pretty ratty so I'm taking out the shelf bottoms and will replace with some plywood.

Also working on cleaning out the cabinets. I oiled and varnished the teak on the cabinet doors after scrubbing away the mildew and they look fantastic. The inside of the cabinets are not terrible, but I don't think I can really get them that clean. I've scrubbed with Simple Green and some Barkeeper's Friend. I'm considering applying some paint, but I'm not sure what kind would be best or if it even matters. I was thinking of an exterior latex. Thoughts?

 

[dlochner]

Latex may not be a good paint choice as it does not breathe. Essentially when latex paint is applied it lays down an impermeable latex rubber barrier with poor adhesion qualities, so it bubbles and peels.

If cost is an issue, then a good oil base paint with a good primer might be a better choice. A step up would be a one part polyurethane paint over an epoxy primer. Check out the TotalBoat line at Jamestown Distributors, they seem to have decent quality products at a cost a bit lower than the big guys like Interlux, Petitt and Epifanes.

The epoxy primer will provide a vapor barrier, however, unlike latex house paint it has much better adhesion properties.