bertram31.com

Start out with the premise that I'm the worlds worst painter and hate painting with a purple passion. That being said, my 1962 13 foot Whalter, which has been visiting da Judge in Galveston for the past 7 or 8 years, has returned home, and she had a rough stay, including coming to rest, trailer and all, on the wing of a biz jet during Hurricane Ike.

Anyway, she's home and I'm gonna give her a good rehab. The paint is horrible, done by my son about 15 years ago with a brush over dirt. Its peeling off. The bottom has some cracks that I will glass up good with cloth, tape, and West system epoxy (I'm pretty good at glass work now after Capt. Patrick led me thu it when I was fixing the GlassTech hatches on AJ). I plan to sand the hull down to gelcoat, fair out with epoxy and mico balloons as necessary, then paint it the original white outside and probably the modern light tan on the inside. I want to use a one part paint and want a high gloss. I can't spray, it needs to be a brush job. I have read about "rolling and tipping" but have never done it. Remember, I'm just a lousy painter and the fact I don't see too good sho' don't help.

The boat will be inside my heated and a/c shop for the paint...I plan to do all the dry sanding outside and just wet sanding inside to keep the dust down.

I am a fool and need a fool proof paint system, and respectfully solicit the considered advice of the Faithful.

yo Fren'

UV

please use a 2 part paint, not a air dry paint

are you looking for easy, or cheap and easy?

Easy, not cheap. Is there a 2 part that a fool can mix, i.e. one to one, two to one, etc? I'm no good at a few drops here a dozen there....I can do West System epoxy only because of the neat little pumps....I can count to five pretty good.

I'm all ears.

UV

i did the cockpit with foam rollers and tipped with foam brushes......looks pretty good. and you can cut the foam brushes to conform to odd shapes. when you done......you throw it all away and clean nothing.

UV-

Had a 13' whaler in my youth. Great boats...could go anywhere you had the balls to go. We used to try to see how high we could get them off a wake....and I mean serious air time. (more balls than brain at that age).

On refinishing.....I would do my best to dry it our real well. The foam core on Whalers tends to suck up water and it makes em very heavy. Plus the water will leach out throih any spot that is not 100% sealed. I would be inclined to drill a few test holes and look for evidence of water in the core. Deal with that first before you get into the painting.

Once shes is good and dry..and sealed, paint goes much better whatever method you use.

Giff

UV-

I've had good luck with Interlux Toplac (1 part) rolled on with a small foam roller and tipped with a foam brush. Have a few foam brushes in your pocket and toss 'em if they too wet or start to come apart. The results can be suprisingly good and last pretty well. Good luck--its easy.'

John F.

UV,
I second Raybo's comment...

BUT, if you wanna keep her simple as possible with a 1 part I'd go with the following schedule:
Apply a generous coat of Interlux Prekote primer with a brush or roller.

Then, after it dries, knock down any brush strokes/ roller stipple with a thorough sanding with 220 grit, and wipe clean with denatured.
For 1 part topcoat I'd go with the Interlux Brightsides which is a polyurethane- considerably more durable than a traditional alkyd.

And Vic, you'll be pleased with how good of a finish you'll get if you add a bit (5 to 10%) of the Interlux Brushing liquid. Even a "hate to paint" guy can get a sprayed on look by brushing the reduced Brightsides.


Yep, that'd be my route if I were going with a 1 part. I actually did just that on a 14' Mckee craft I restored years ago... Last time I saw her, the paint was still looking pretty good.
The real problem with the Whalers / McKee's is that some of the old hulls flex so much that the paint inevitably spider cracks all over after any kind hard use. Know a guy who put a lot of work into a 17'Montauk and ended up with a beautifully restored Whaler. After about a year, the several coats of awlgrip were all cracked. Not peeling, but cracked all over. Big investment on LPU to have it fail like that... Maybe not such a bad idea to stick with the 1 part, for now.

what buju said.....worked well for me.

Thanks, Faithful....Buju, exactly what I needed, comic book simple. Randy, suggesting that I could be in the same league as you with a paint brush is pretty comical.

The boat has only been afloat once in years, and that was during the hurricane. I'll make sure she's dry as a bone before closing up the final holes. She's had a pretty tough life....got flipped off her trailer backwards at 95 mph in the 70s and cracked up pretty bad, fixed with a come-a-long and some cables to get her back to the proper shape before slapping some glass on....flipped over a few times by renegade teens who just HAD to see if she could jump a low dock....the currect 30 hp Nissan is about the 6th or 7th motor to grace her transom.

She will live in a sling lift in my boathouse at the camp and water ski another generation of Roy kids down the Tickfaw. I paid $600 for her without motor in 1962, guess I've gotten my money's worth. Good stuff lasts, which I guess is how all of us met in the first place.

Thanks again, and best wishes for the new year.

UV

UV -

I would really look at water in the foam as well.

Since you are getting the glass and epoxy out, I have heard that tipping these up at a good incline, drilling a weep hole down low on the transom and letting her sit a while can get most of the moisture out.

Some of the more crazy ideas are to rig up some type of vacuum over the hole and draw the moisture out as well.

If nothing else, you can poke your finger in there and verify that it is dry.

Ian.

Ian - the bottom is cracked at the transom (self draning) and its been sitting at a bow up incline for several years, so its probably dry. I'll drill some holes too and verify.

Stripping the boat down right now. The transom clamps on the motor were frozen up solid. A week of CX soak followed by the generous use of a heat gun did the trick.

UV

Do some research on Interlux Perfection. It's a two-part and very easy to work with. I used fine foam rollers.

Vic,

best place to look for water is around the through hull drain at the transom. If you are putting this type of well deserved work into this awesome boat, check the brass through hull drain tubes. All the through hulls on Whalers have them. They get eaten away over time. That is often where the majority of water enters the hull.

Good luck my friend!

Dug

Dug - the old Whaler has the "wall" to create the motor well and has a drain tube/plug thru the wall as well as the transom. The last time I overhauled the boat - say 15 years ago - I changed out both brass drain tubes. I still have the special tool around that is used to flare the tube. They both look okay.

I also installed the "modern" pop riveted rubrail at that overhaul and its held up perfect. Much better than the original vinyl strip. The boat has cable and pully steering that is in good shape, just need to change the springs and probably the vinyl coated cables too. An antique like me. My 30 hp Nissan is okay with that set up, and I've had a couple of 40s on it over the years with no problems. I've seen some 13s with motors up to 90s on them. Organ Donor Boats.

UV

look into Imron 3.5HG ( high gloss ), it can be brushed or rolled, is EXTREMELY durable, and will more then likely cover in one or two coats, you can put a coat on in the morning and depending on temps put a 2nd on after lunch and be done with it.

Will gloss like its soaking wet, and is really economical because its a commercial product, might be hard to find a DuPont jobber who can carry it but they can order it up for you. When I say it looks wet, it looks WET, but you can also order it in satin or flat as well.

You will actually spend less on this paint then the perfection, its far more a superior paint and is VERY chemical and abrasion resistant.

Its a 4:1 mix, use a ruler if your not sure, mark 4:1 on a mixing stick and you cant get more fool proof then that.

We even use it on our shop floor.

this is all I could find for now

UV: I have had good luck with these paints. They won't blister at the waterline like Awlgrip/Imron will and are very hard. You mix by dumping one can into the other!

Rawleigh - "these paints"? Huh, which one(s) you talking about?

UV, the easily confused

My wife got drunk a few years ago and bought a '62 13 whaler off Ebay. I went to Beaumont to pick it up. What a hunk of shiat. Ended up doing major repairs, including foam and wood replacement. Debated the paint thing and finally decided to regelcoat. Slapped a new 50 hp yamaha on it and love that little boat. Scary fast.

I really like the modern tan but decided to go back with the whaler blue. The factory still has it but it took a while to get. Best resources for the restoration were:


http://www.continuouswave.com

and Sue Lodel with Twin Cities Marine in Wisconsin. If you need any oem parts, gelcoat, or paint, she can get them and gives great advice. http://www.twincitiesmarine.com
920-793-2715

Woops! Here they are:

http://www.por15.com/2-Part-Topcoats/products/5/

UV's Whaler on the wing of a Busines Jet after H. Ike hit Galveston...

Is that a welder in the bow???

UV, how about you tell us where all yo boats be stored. Dat way, we can prepare for the next big blow.

It appears that any of Vic's boats in a metal building is worse than Jim Cantore showing his face before a storm. It's coming your way and it's gonna be bad.
Eddy G.

That's da Judge's generator in the bow. He had the Whaler in his airplane hanger and put the generator in the Whaler as an afterthought. The water rose to 8 & a half feet, just above the tail numbers on the engine nacelle. The old Whaler did a lot better than the jet.

Now that you mention it guys, I better keep my boats out of tin buildings, huh? Still have the pix of AJ sitting atop that pile of Clorox Rays & Blub-liners in the Seabrook Marine dry stack building in New Orleans after Katrina....14 feet of water there. But hey - good boats float.

UV

guy comes in with pictures of his then recently purchased 29SR Amberjack.
Its sitting at the bottom of the pile, still shrink wrapped from its transport from Long Island. There are at least 4 boats on top of it, one sideways crusing the windshield, the helm, the transom, etc. Never mind the 3 other boats on top of that one.

He asks if it can be repaired, I tell him its totaled, forget it, and ask why he would even consider repairing it. Turns out he only insured it for the amount of the loan and he put a rather healthy downpayment down, talk about shit out of luck.

nice,
hey man i am real sorry my boat messed up your jet,

Thanks for this timely thread. I too have a 13' Whaler in need of a fresh coat of paint. A few questions:

1. How do I prep areas that have checkered and popped off (see below)? I really don't want to remove all the old paint. I'm guessing sand - fill - sand?

2. Since I have ablative bottom paint applied now I had planned to apply white paint to the freeboard area only retaining the current bottom paint and painted interior. How do I address the interface at the water line?

3. What is meant by "pointing up"? Filling in corner and edges? Or do you brush stroke the roller applied paint? Can I roll these paints onto a vertical surface and get a smooth finish. (I rather not deal with the logistics of tipping the boat 90 degrees)

I had planned to get her cleaned up for sale this spring (in favor of something in the 15-17' range) but your enthusiasm has me thinking twice.

Steve,
Thats pretty bad paint failure... Did those two areas result from impact?
Like I stated earlier, I've seen whalers with really extensive cracks in the paint, but you've got no adhesion.
I'd hesitate to repaint until you address the failing paint. Take a sizable rubber mallet and smack the hell outta the hull, see if you get additional cracks, and if the paint has adhesion or is coming right off.

Sure doesn't look like gelcote to me. I had a Boston Whaler and mine wasn't painted. If you're not the original owner, I suspect someone painted it without the proper pre-paint preparation. If you're lucky, you'll be able to strip the entire hull and then do it right.