How to re-finish my Graduate hull?

M

Mannyroad

New Member
Joined
29 Mar 2012
Messages
6
Location
Cockerham, Nr. Lancaster in Lancashire
Visit site
Hi,

I am new to boat owning, having just acquired my first boat, a Graduate dinghy. The boat looked in reasonable condition when I bought it but further inspection revealed a small amount of rot in the hull ply where the centreboard box meets the forward bulkhead. I have been able to cut this out and patch with marine ply; the hull is now quite sound. I sanded off the whole hull to get a smooth finish ready for painting and noticed that below the outer white paint was a fairly tough, creamy yellow coating over a chocolate brown coating which had been laid directly onto the ply. I'm wondering if the yellowish cream coating may have been epoxy. The hull, whilst smooth, is now a patchwork of bare ply/cream coating/brown coating.

My question, finally, is how do I re-finish the hull? Do I need to strip back all previous coats to bare ply first? Do I re-coat the hull, as is, in epoxy before applying what other coatings? Sorry if my questions are obvious to many but as I say, I am new to this world - but very keen.
 
If it is epoxy, it probably won't come off easily. If it is sound and not flaky, rub it down and prime with the appropriate primer for your final finish. You may wish to use a fairing filler to take out any irregularities at this point. Then undercoat and top coat. I would use International products and finish with Toplac, but Hempel or Epifanes do similar systems. They all produce useful information on their different systems and how to use them. Probably not a lot to choose between them, so choice depends on availability.
 
Don't use any 2 pack epoxy paints just in case what is on already is not epoxy. Put paint on using a roller and not to thick. If you put paint on to thick it takes forever to dry. Put first coat of undercoat on and you will then be able to see any bits that need filling or smoothing. Have fun. Hope it floats :eek: :) :D ;)
 
I would recommend you apply regular paint and take it for a trial sail. When you are sure the centre board casing is water tight you can lavish some love on the final finish.

Out of interest what hull number is it?

I owned Graduate 2739 complete with leaky centre board casing! There was a widely held view that Woolworths full gloss (not non drip) was better than International paint! I think mine was built around 1976/7. A lot of the later boats 28xx and 29xx were stuck together with West as epoxy became widely available in the 1980's
 
Yes! That would have been the Woolworth's "Household" brand badged I think by Walpamur at at that time. Most of my dinghies were painted with this brand,including the Polyurethane versions very durable too!

Good luck with the launch!


ianat182
 
Thanks for all your advice; much appreciated.

I am presuming, from the comments to date, that it isn't really necessary to epoxy coat the hull, even though parts of the original ply have been exposed by the sanding. I'm glad if this is the case as epoxying, from my limited knowledge of this process, is a bit of a pain (especially the cleaning up).

Having inserted a ply patch I intend to epoxy over the patch (and a good 4" of the surrounding hull) and include some glass cloth, to strengthen the repair.

Ther hull number, Fastjedi, is 1047.

Tranona, I'm not sure what you mean by a fairing filler. I would normally consider using similar to a car body type filler; I presume you are referring to such a filler.

Whilst on the subject of finishes, I have rubbed down the ply decks (fore and aft) and the pitch pine gunwhales(?) in between, together with the teak rubbing strakes ready for varnishing (original varnish was very badly done). Which of the many varnishes on offer today is considered the best for this job? I'm overwhelmed by the choices on offer.

Cheers
 
You can use car filler, but for a decent finish use the International epoxy fairing filler. Bit more expensive but goes on very smoothly and flats down to a good finish ready for undercoat. Depends in a way how much effort you want to put into getting a really good finish. Effort in getting a sound foundation pays off when you put on that final top coat.
 
Tranona said:
You can use car filler, but for a decent finish use the International epoxy fairing filler. Bit more expensive but goes on very smoothly and flats down to a good finish ready for undercoat. Depends in a way how much effort you want to put into getting a really good finish. Effort in getting a sound foundation pays off when you put on that final top coat.
Click to expand...

+1 But I wouldn't use car filler anywhere near a boat. I found it is porous and passes water.
 
Car filler will go soft and drop off in water. There is a Marine filler which is similar but more expensive. It does well underwater though.

171335__94338_std.jpg


Have a look at this little website of pics from my Heron repair which sounds similar to your job.

27paint.jpg
 
Just had a look at your web site. Nice work. My dinghy isn't as poor a starting condition as your Heron was.

Quite a few areas of the ply hull on the inside face has patchy discolouration due to standing water in the bottom of the boat from the previous owner leaving it outside uncovered for part of last winter and one area has had some fibreglass resin applied (where the rot used to be). This has also affected the thin ply bulkheads (discolouration wise). The ply is still sound, just doesn't look so pretty. Because of this I am considering painting the interior ply surfaces and varnishing the structural timbers. Not sure which of the numerous varnishes out there is right for the job. Any tips?

Cheers
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top