Deck Options : Crazing and POOR Maintenance

[krozet]

Hello All;

I have bought a boat that is going to need a lot of sweat equity to bring it back from where it is right now. One of the first cosmetic things I want to tackle is the deck. The previous owners have neglected the deck and used really bad fixer up's to problems and now I am trying to figure out what my options are. First is obviously a thorough cleaning!

Looking aft from the bow. After cleaning I would like to reset the non skid sections.


Port side of the cabin roof, in need of a good scrubbing.


Bow with some gel coat flaked off or is this paint flaking off of the gel coat?


Starboard side, crazing along the inside edge of the toe rail.


Crazing along the starboard cabin roof.


I don't even know what is coating the top of this chain plate... I need to strip off this half assed fix, seal it properly before finishing the deck.


Stress cracks around the stanchion poles.


Crazing and flaking where the cabin roof comes aft into the cockpit.


Crazing around the instruments.


Problems around the starboard cockpit locker.


More problems around the cockpit floor.


I don't even know what this is....


So what are my options? The boat is from 1971 and I understand that there is a thick gel coat. But with the level of issues is it worth trying to take the boat back down to a nice gel coat finish or would it be better to sand down past the cracks and paint?

Thanks for any insight from the more seasoned members,

Robert

[mitiempo]

600 pics to go through - that will keep you busy. I'd sand down to good structure and fill these areas with a thickened epoxy mix. Ultimately paint like Interlux Perfection which is durable and long lasting. The non skid areas I would tape off and use Kiwi Grip, Interlux Interdeck or similar. When I finish mine I think I'll use Kiwi Grip as I've heard nothing but good about it. Anti-skid Boat Decks from Pachena LLC - KiwiGrip anti-slip deck coating
Some of the crazing looks like just old age, some is obviously stress like the stanchion areas where you might like to strengthen the deck underneath these places so it's not likely to flex in the future, and some looks like in concave areas where it's commonly found on boats much younger than yours. I don't know what that is in the last picture either - looks like a bad attempt at a fix with some kind of putty though.
No, I think the gel is not worth saving in total but with a good paint job and non skid it'll look like new or better. If you were to try and save it you'd have a hell of a time matching colors in such large areas and I think it would after a lot of work look patchy in any case.
As far as your keel (I know it's another thread) I'd grind the cracks down to clean glass and epoxy fill then cover with a layer of cloth and epoxy, maybe even 17/8 biax which is 17oz stitched cloth and 3/4oz mat on one side and very strong. I don't think the steel should be much of a problem as the ballast is apparently mostly lead. The weeping on the outside does need attention as well. Hope this helps.
Brian

[sidmon]

As soon as I saw the pic I KNEW it was a Contest.

I used to have a 27 which was afflicted with similarly poor gelcoat.

I had my deck painted with awlgrip by Stevens yard in Miami (it was very well done, and the price reflected it), and thought it was going to be a long term fix. But after 3 years or so, the extremely crazed gelcoat had "worked" sufficiently under the primer and paint that the canyons began to open once again. In another year my expensive paint job looked like yours.

Judging by the brown patches showing under the white in your pics, it appears that your 33 is devouring its paint job as well.

I no longer have that boat, but if I had to paint one like it again, I would do it with something other than the very hard and ineleastic two part polyurethanes after taking off as much of the wandering gelcoat as practicable.

At least you don't have to deal with the nightmare of an old Volvo....

Never. Again. EVER! for moi.

Their parts support sucks large...Pricey as airplane parts.

[sidmon]

Oh yeah.

Be careful with that stainless half round rubrail...You can find stock that is close...but it wont be quite right.

[sidmon]

Oh yeah.

Be careful with that stainless half round rubrail...You can find stock that is close...but it wont be quite right.

And don't even bother with Conyplex if you are in search of an impossible to find part (like those little push button cabinet latches).

They told me they only build big boats now....

[georgefmys]

Take a look,krozet,at previous thread called gelcoat cracks by dieselboy [and look at pics]. Your boat has same problem, and it can't be rectified without removal of all gelcoat! That is not as hard a job as it may sound-but no one would blame you if you didn't want to spend the time/money to fix.It would be a shame [ and a waste,really] to do a quick sand and paint. As rough as it is now,it will only look worse in a couple years if not done right. See comment by sidmon...

[sidmon]

I would almost recommend painting with old style enamel which has some give to it...


Now, granted, my experience was from 25 years ago. So the polyurethanes -in particular the one parts and their attendent primers- may be a bit more forgiving and pliable now.

But, at any rate, I would take down as much of the gelcoat that is willing to come off.

As it looks like your boat has the same look as mine, you may discover that its the smooth areas that need the most work. The crazing in the nonskid areas was not nearly as severe. Indeed, it looked like it would actually add some "roughage."

[sidmon]

cardiop...Point taken. krozet, not sure how it works in Canada, but I would think you will need a new survey to insure the boat anyway. Its well worth the money.

An old survey isn't much better than an old toothbrush....

The awlgrip job on my old Contest 27 was done by a reputable yard with plenty of experience applying the paint.

They remarked on the state of the gelcoat, and a big expense was their prep efforts.

Might add too, the boat was only 11 years old at the time. Simply put, regardless of their reputation, Conyplex put out some marginal product in the '70s. It was a really BAD gelcoat job on that boat...And it looked the same as this Contest 33 does.

Frankly, I will never get a deck two part painted again. You will bemoan that first ding. IMHO, the better course is to just accept that once painted, expect to do it again one day (if you own the boat long enough), and go with the one part polyurethanes.

[merc2dogs]

I'd say he bought the boat KNOWING the deck was the way it is, and since it was purchased with that knowledge, it's a safe assumption that it was purchased as a project.

He's asking for information on how to proceed with a repair, not purchase advice, where survey information would be appropriate.

My advice, best way would be to sand down to remove the cracks and paint with a quality paint.
Isolated cracks can be repaired by Veeing out the cracks and refilling with gell coat, but too many make it overly time consuming.

Something you can try, remove any loose flakes, wash with a solvent, then paint thinned resin over the cracks. When it cures, sand down again. repeat untill the cracks are filled. Penetrating epoxy works great, but I have also used heavily thinned paint. Idea is to use it the same as scratch filler primer.

I've repaired a few things that way, a fairing for a motorcycle about 6yrs ago still looks good, my O'day sprite seat/mast support, (still looked good 4 years later when I sold it) and several areas on my portager. The only areas it hasn't worked on was in the motor well of the portager and the rear of the cockpit floor. I attribute that to possible 2stroke leaks that I didn't get cleaned up well enough.

Ken.

[tommays]

I get paid to fix stuff and paint stuff and the point here is that people don't realize that its almost imposable to do deck work correctly OUTSIDE due to the necessity of reasonably consistent temps to work in and the owner lives in Canada.

It cant be to cold Or to hot to much sun or any RAIN

You looking at hundreds of hours of prep time it took my friends 6 months of FULL time work with a retired SKILLED uncle putting in 8 hours a day 5 days a week during a miracle winter were it stayed above 50 degrees.


My advise would be to find used greenhouse parts and buy a 2 year cover and go at it