Resealing timber hull

[glennr]

Hey Guys just after some info on restoring my old everingham ski boat ( i think ) and i was hoping to keep it all timber look hull and all, ive been removing the old paint and the timber is coming up very nicely so would be a shame to paint over although white would look very nice too, can anyone tell me how to seal in between the planks before finishing and some good products to seal the planks then seal the timber?

thanks for any help would be appreciated, Glenn

[hookster]

Hi Glenn I'm only a novice at this game but I did what all novices do and I asked the same questions you are asking. The product I used to varnish the planks is Feast Watson Spar Marine Varnish, available from Bunnings for about $100 per 4 litre tin. It ticks all the right boxes: Allows for timber movement, UV protection built in etc. As for sealing between the weatherboards, mine was pretty tight anyway, but I did run a bead of black marine sicaflex along the joint for the bottom few planks. Everyone seems to have their own opinions on this issue, but this seems to be the most widely used. Cheers, Jon.

[mikey123]

Hi Glenn

I also removed all the paint from my plywood clinker hull savage recently. I'm also a novice, but the experts told me to rake out all joint below the waterline with an angled tungsten carbide scraping tool, to leave an obvious 'V' shaped groove. Then seal all with a bead of sikaflex.
I only did this below the waterline, and I repainted with two coats of yacht primer, two coats of prekote and three coats of toplac below the waterline also.
Above the waterline I left natural timber, and will finish with International Goldspar Premium Marine gloss varnish.

It hasnt been in the water yet, and I'm still not finished, but that's the advice I got from the expert local boat builders.
Actually, the advice I got was to use epoxy, but I hate epoxy, so they said do the above as an alternative.

good luck with it. It has taken me way longer than I imagined !!!

[bauchy]

WHAT EVER YOU DO DO NOT USE EPOXY TO CLEAR FINISH TIMBER BOATS!!!!!!! it blooms and u will have to resand it. I did mine and was advised not to by bootlegger and it bloomed. BLOODY NIGHTMARE!!! VARNISH IS SAFE SO USE THAT

[glennr]

thanks for the info guys, my local boat builder wanted to fibreglass the whole thing outside which to me defeats the idea of a timber boat, mikey do you hav any pics of the two tone waterline from paint to varnish? that was my other idea i thought it would look really nice but thats in my head would be good to see some photos, did you hav to prime the timber for the sikaflex? thanks, Glenn

[bootlegger]

I really don't understand shipwrights nowadays. All they want to do is glass everything.
I used an angle grinder with a cutting disc to do the vee in the planking. Whatever you do don't go down to the nails.
Then I brushed in some penetrating epoxy into the gap and let it dry. After that I caulked it with 3m 5200. It takes seven days to cure. Its awsome stuff. Better than sykaflex. The only problem is its hard to get here. I had to ship the last lot in from the US.
I have a few tubes left over of black and mahogany for $25 per tube if any one wants.
0413766501 dave
Any clear is fine to use just don't epoxy it first.

[mikey123]

Hi Glenn
you definitely need a pin-stripe of some sort (white/chrome/bronze) between the colour and the clear.

Here is a link to a thread I started a while ago when I first got the boat.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=508

I also bought a v8 jeep to tow my boat, and unfortunately ive spent most of my cash and time fixing the jeep instead of the boat !! hehe
So, the boat has sat idle for a while, and the paint job still isnt finished.

Here is a link to a website with HEAPS of great looking boats which you can use to decide what looks good and what doesnt.
http://www.classicboat.com/boats.htm


I think it's best to copy something that looks good, and not make up a new design of your own. Original boat paint jobs look good to the person who designed them, but are usually not so appealing to everyone else, I reckon.
regards
Mikey

[mccaughd]

Hi Glenn,
I have done just what Jon has done using Sikaflex and Feast Watson varnish.
I used an angle grinder to form the V or U shape and most importantly, taped where i wanted to sikaflex, i used the Sikaflex primer before laying down a bead. In addition i used a soft rubber tool so to get a smooth concave shape on the sikaflex. You can use your finger but sikaflex is known as black death as it goes everywhere.
My progress is un tested as the boat is out of the shed upside down while i work on the trailer.
Cheers

Damien

[hookster]

Bloody black death alright Damien!!! Fortunately I still had a box of latex gloves left over from my six years in hell as a bakery owner. That stuff sticks to everything

[bootlegger]

It comes off with kero