Princess yachts advice

andyfollett

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Hi again all. I posted earlier that im in the process of buying a 2014 princess 43 (an attempt to buy a 42 struck the buffers) The boat i am buying has been kept in the UK but only the windscreen covers have been used on the boat. The consequence is that the satin finish walnut table has faded (previous owner kept 3 plate bolsters on the table and underneath these the table is quite markedly darker) Also one of the bulkheads opposite the galley is noticeably paler at the top and darker at the bottom. Im guessing this must be sun bleaching. I intend moving the boat to sunnier climes and will have some sun screens made but my question is..... How easy will it be to darken the woodwork up where faded? Has anyone tried applying wax or similar or is it a question of light sanding and re-staining. Is it a job for a french polisher or a diy job?
Thanks in advance..
andy
 
Perennial problem that affects all boats with woodwork exposed to sunlight, to a greater or lesser degree. I think a couple of forumites have had a go at this but in general I think this is very much not a diy-solvable problem. Best solution is to have the panels removed, sanded, relacquered. Obviously easy enough for your table, but less so for fixed panelling. You could do worse than talk to Landau or Princess customer service, although you might want to be sitting down when they tell you the cost. Good luck and let us know how you get on.
 
Thanks. i think i will live with it for now. Have spent the budget my lovely wife set and will need to do some saving up for any cosmetic repairs and additions!! Was hoping i could polish it back to good health!
 
I've had this type of damage repaired and it's expensive, time consuming and difficult to find the right people to do it.
If I was you I would definitely get the work done by the current owner, let them have the hassle and cost.
 
My view on things like this is to knock some money off to cover the cost for doing the work, then agree with SWMBO that you'll wait a season before getting it done. After the season you'll have stopped noticing it and can spend the money on something far more fun :encouragement:
 
To echo Mark above it maybe worth leaving it a season or two as you are moving the boat to sunnier climes, it may fade all the same shade.
 
We cover ours where possible.
For example, the dinette table has a semi permanent (fitted) table cloth. When we take it off for cleaning, the table looks really bare.
While we are away from the boat, we cover the woodwork around the helm etc to stop this kind of sun bleaching.
Not easy to stop it completely though.
 
As a general note, in Dusseldorf boat show I had a chat with people who do interior 'refits' using vinyl wraps. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the company, but there are several around if you google them.

I was quite impressed by the samples they had, both by the look of the finish and the tangible feel of a refitted panel.

If the salesman was to be believed, wrapping is cost efficient and long lasting and of course relatively easy to repair (provided the wrapping is still available).

This option may not be viable here, but it would be interesting to hear if anybody has first hand experience this.
 
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These are the folks I was referring to in my earlier post -> http://www.yachtid.eu/en/

Scroll down the front page and there are samples of their refit projects. Not same as the real thing (what ever that might be) of course, but an interesting way to modernize an interior of a boat. As with hull wrapping, you can always take it off later.
 
These are the folks I was referring to in my earlier post -> http://www.yachtid.eu/en/

Scroll down the front page and there are samples of their refit projects. Not same as the real thing (what ever that might be) of course, but an interesting way to modernize an interior of a boat. As with hull wrapping, you can always take it off later.

Very interesting. Not a perfect match but pretty good.
 
How many panels did they do for £100?

It included repairing very small scratches done by a careless engineer who worked on the engines - now not possible to see where damage was even from closeby, restaining 1 panel and 3 curved edges - 1 above oven and 2 underneath windscreen which got most sun. Leaving everything perfect as new. He quoted more but work was so quick that he charged less in the end.
 
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