Fiberglass refinishing advice needed

[admeyers]

Hello,

I know this topic has been discussed a lot but I could still use some help. I recently bought a 1972 MacGreggor 222 - my first boat.

I know it needs some cosmetic work but I'm really not sure what it needs. I would like to get it in good sailing shape for the least amount of time and money possible.

I plan on putting it in the water as soon as I can and keeping it there (Stockton Lake in Missouri).

I was hoping to just polish and wax it but after washing it, I think it needs some repairs first. There are places where the white is gone and black areas are showing - is that the fiberglass?

I think I need to paint the bottom with some anti fouling paint but I don't know what is on there now so I don't know what I can put on.

One problem is that it's on a trailer in my driveway and that's where I'll have to do the work. I think sanding the bottom is going to be hard laying on my back under the boat.

I'd like the boat to look good but I'm more concerned with learning to sail than having a perfect finish - I just want to do what really needs to be done this year. Then if I love sailing, I'll put more effort in next year.

I've posted some pictures that show some of the problem areas. If anyone could take a look and give some opinions on what I should do, I'd really appreciate it.

Here's a link to the photos.

http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/album.php?u=108342

Thanks very much.

Andy

 

[25yearslater]

Don't do anything but sail it first as long as it is seaworthy. From the photos you have a reasonable amount of work to make her pretty again but not beyond the ability of anyone so commited to the effort. That black is a tie coat between the gelcoat and fiberglass layers. The gelcoat has been rubbed away or buffed away over the years. You can either paint or regelcoat but not both as your ambition dictates. But first you need to know if sailing is for you and I hope you love it.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Welcome aboard!
The good news is no structural problems.
The bad news is fiberglass is not normally black, it is normally yellowish. The second picture could provide some answers, try taking a 3M scratch pad and see if some of the smaller spots around the big one can be scrubbed off. The forth picture shows the standard black spots on the topsides that a 3M scratch pad and elbow grease will take off. I'm hip on the laying on your back to get the bottom coat off. Not much you can do about that. It is an issue all of us have. I can't tell from the pictures what type of bottom coat you have. If you can rub it off with your fingers it is probably ablative, if you can't it is probably some epoxy type.

 

[Bill Roosa]

In taking off bottom coat I've found that a scraper (stiff one not a puddy knife) or chisel to be the best tool. Sanding makes a mess and takes a long time. A scraper will peel the bottom off and you end up with lots of little bits that are much easier to clean up.

 

[admeyers]

Thanks

Thanks for the great responses. I'm still not sure what I'll attempt this year - depends on time, money and weather. I feel better knowing that even if I don't get much (or anything) done, it shouldn't affect my ability to learn to sail and have fun.

 

[AtlanticAl]

I have been grinding the fiberglass on my boat, where the toe rails go, i have ground the gel coat away, to give the fiberglass tape I am sealing the hull deck joint with good adhesion. As i ground away the colour coat, i found, their was a black coat under the colour, i found out, this is so that when you switch on a light inside the boat at night, it cant be seen through the hull, as the black coat stops any light from going through the hull.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

The gouges can be filled with a fiberglass putty as long as they are not cracks that go into the laminate. It looks as if they are gouges in the gelcoat - cosmetic. Sand the area with 80 grit dry. Clean with acetone. Apply a white marine putty. Sand smooth with 80 grit again. Spray gelcoat with a Preval Sprayer (found at automotive or good marine stores). Buy gelcoat (white) with wax. Thin with acetone until you get a spraying consistency (not too watery - try it on another surface first). Put MEKP (hardner in the gelcoat first before thinning. About 10 to 12 drops per ounce. After the gelcoat has cured, wet sand it with 320 grit, then 400, then 600. Buff with rubbing compound to get a shine. The rest of the boat can be buffed with a fiberglass rubbing compound too, to get a shine back. The dark spots are an indication of thinned gelcoat. Can't do anything other than gelcoat and paint on top of it. Regarding antifouling, you should use an ablative multi season paint if you are going to trailer the boat. These paints are effective if you pull the boat and let the bottom dry and then relaunch. Single season paints experience a chemical change when the hull dries so it is not so effective when the boat goes back into the water. Find my article on bottom paints written earlier this year. I know this is brief, but it is a start.

 

[Ray Bowles]

I'd go sailing. I would raise the mast at home, mount all the rigging both running and standing and learn what each line does and make sure you have it all. Add all the required safety gear and be ready for spring. If you are in fresh water bottom paint is not as important as in salt water so I wouldn't do that until you have sailed her.
I sail a San Juan 23 and I leave her on the trailer fully rigged. I splash her everytime I sail and recover her to the trailer when done for the day. It is a very easy thing to do and saved me over 90% of the cost of dockage in the marina. Many marinas have spaces for trailer sailers so that is another option. It takes me less than 15 minutes each way. Good luck, Ray

 

[AtlanticAl]

Where do you stay, I live in Galena, I can come and take a look at your boat. If you put it in stockton lake, i can come show you a bit about how to sail it. Its only a short run up there for us, but what i would advise you to do, is keep your boat out the lake for winter, do everything that needs done, that way you will get to know your boat, and by spring you will know her. spend the winter getting to know her when she is in the yard, then sail her in the summer.

 

[Wanderer138]

You don't need bottom paint (your boat is sailed in fresh water and is stored on its trailer) and the other things appear to be mostly cosmetic. I'd suggest spending some of the money you just saved on one (or more) of the following books:

Sailing for Dummies by J.J. Isler and Peter Isler
Sailing Fundamentals by Gary Jobson
Sailing Made Easy by the American Sailing Association

The second book was the textbook for the ASA 101 Basic Keelboat course for many years, but I understand it's been replaced by the third one. Study the skills in each chapter, and then practice as many of them as you can on the boat, whether it's in the water or in your driveway. Your neighbors might call you Noah, but you'll be sailing soon - and they won't.

Although the textbooks are available, I wouldn't recommend ASA 101 right now. It's a very good course, but they pack a lot into four days of mornings in the classroom and afternoons on the water. In addition, you and two or three others have to share the boat and the instructor so there may not be much individual instruction. I'd recommend a basic sailing course (Red Cross or YMCA) if available and hold off on the ASA 101 until you've been sailing for a year or two. You'll gain far more from it, I know I did.

Welcome aboard and best of luck to you.