New to me COMPAC 19

[fawsr]

Well, new to the forum here. Picked up my CP-19 Saturday. Actually, I bought it from a member (rboteler) of the forum here. Hauled that sucker from St Louis all the way to NE Arkansas, wop-sided tires and all! Took me 5 hours to get there and 9 to get home! A lot of TLC needed, but overall in very good shape. I've got a Sunfish and an Aquafinn and a Stevenson Weekender that I built, but this will be my first "real" sailboat.

A few questions:

This boat was kept in the water APR-SEP and stored in the yard through the winter. It has a barrier coat on the bottom. It has the factory vinyl bootstripe and a hand painted stripe near the top. All are brown. Since the sial covers and lifeline covers and tiller cover are blue, I'm thinking of changing the color on the boat to blue. I have found a nice dark blue barrier coat, but since I will be trailering it, I'm wondering if it would be better to remove the barrier coat compketely. I feel that I can make quick work of the bootstripe but not so sure about the hand painted stripe. Again, looking at rolling and tipping interlux for a new blue top stripe. Whada ya think?

[brackish]

Is the bottom paint you are referring to as a "barrier coat" actually an antifouling bottom paint?  They are different animals. A barrier coat is an epoxy applied to protect the GRP from blistering.  The antifouling is to slow down marine growth.

I would spray the stripes because I can and am more comfortable with that process.  However, many have had good success with roll and tip.

[fawsr]

Simple antifouling coat. It will probably never spent more than a week in the water at one time.

[brackish]

Simple antifouling coat. It will probably never spent more than a week in the water at one time.

Then you need neither.  A week at a time is not long enough to induce blisters or marine growth.  A lot easier in that case to just clean and wax it and pick up about a half knot in the process.

of course getting the existing anti fouling off won't be easy.  Think I would just give it a good pressure washing and leave it be.

[Salty19]

Welcome Fawsr,

Nice boat, remember it from this site.  You're going to love the space and stability.  He took good care of it. Boteller seemed like a great guy too.

As for the paint, agree with Brackish.    If it's anti-fouling paint only, you could just leave it alone and wash it once in a while.  No harm at all will come.  Or if you're going for looks, sand it off and go through the painstaking process of bringing her back to shiny gelcoat.  Bamboo shafts under fingernails sounds more appealing.   Painting the bottom is one thing, sanding/compounding/polishing it is another story! Overtime the paint will wear off, at that point you could either repaint or restore it..would be a lot easier at that point as most of the paint would have worn off. Just sailing the boat wears it away.

Now if it's barrier coat on there--much different than anti-fouling paint as Brackish points out, that stuff is harder than a rock (usually epoxy based). Getting it off will be seriously messy and hard work, or so I've read anyway. Mucho safety apparatus needed too (for either sanding paint or barrier). Usually barrier coats are put on first, then antifouling paint is applied. Be sure what's on there, or under what you see.  Barrier coat is usually gray or white in color and doesn't come off on your hand when the boat is wet. You mentioned barrier coat, then antifouling paint so maybe ask Boteller again what exactly is there before you proceed.

[fawsr]

Thanks for the replies ... looks like it is gong to be bamboo under the fingernails!  I took my 6" buffer and tried to clean up the shadows under the old boat registration numbers. Then I got out my 10" buffer. Long story short, i just bought a 7" / 7 speed polisher. What did I discover?  This boat aint white ... it is a light cream color! Why did I start this process?

Anyway, I will power wash the anti-fouling off and take a good look there and will polish above the bootstripe. My only fear is that I will be so consumed with touch-up stuff that I will neglect sailing opportunities!

The trailer is galvanized and looks original. The galvanized is in good shape but all the bolts are pretty rusty. Started replacing all the bolts today. Romoved the bow roller and replaced with a v-pad. Removed the old winch and replaced with a new winch. Will move the boat forward about 3" on the trailer. Really wanting to replace the bottom rollers with a wide board, they are cracked and need replacing anyway.   

Would really like to fab up a tongue extender before I do my first launch but really not sure I'll need one yet. We have pretty good ramps on the local lakes, none are too shallow. I can launch our ski boat with the back wheels still completely out of the water, but it sits pretty low too.

Will do a few shake down runs locally but really wanting to head for the gulf in April or May. We'll see.

[Salty19]

Topside restoration isn't terrible.  Getting the bottom restored is not fun.

Been there done that on topsides.

Wetsanded using 4 or 5 grades, machine compounded, machine polishing took about 20-25 hours on the CP19.

Here's the before pic:



And after...



Indeed the white is oxidation. Frankly everyone's boat has oxidation but until you get some off, or as you've found removed stickers exposing fresh gelcoat, it's easy to ignore or not notice.

[fawsr]

Thanks. Seeing your boat before and after pics the other day is what gave me the feeling of gloom & despair...

About sanding, will the machine compounding do much good without sanding? I've made layups and sanded and worked fiberglass (mostly polyester) but am a bit leary of "sanding" on my factory boat! On the other hand, I hate to spend too many hours compounding if I really need to sand it first? Just wondering.







BTW, while buffing the boat i uncovered shadows from the name of the boat while a previous owner had it. On both sides near the stern above the trim line is the shadow of "TOMCAT" ...

[brackish]

Will do a few shake down runs locally but really wanting to head for the gulf in April or May. We'll see.

You should consider the FL120 in May or the BEER cruise the first week in June.  I've not done the FL120 but usually about fifty boats with mostly beach or boat camping stops for 120 miles over 5 days.  BEER I've done the last two years and will probably do it this year.  It is about fifty boats, maybe 60-70 miles overall, with several remote stops and several in areas where there are restaurants and motels.  One of our forum members did a nice article on the FL120

Your boat size would be large for the FL120, about average or a little below for the BEER.

These are good Gulf cruises where you are around folks who have done it before and know the area.  Mostly stay in Pensacola Bay, Santa Rosa Sound and about to the Alabama line.

I can also see the potential for a Kentucky Lake Voo sometime in the future.

[fawsr]

Long day ... after buffing with 6" then 10" with rubbing compound proved fruitless, I got out the 7" variable speed polisher with cutting compound ... after 30 minutes I had still acomplished nothing! Went to the store and got 400 and 800 wet/dry sandpaper ... after 20 minutes with the block & 400 paper I'm still not seeing much progress. Broke out the big gun ... with 200 paper! My boat is not white anymore .. it's 2-toned! But the sanding with 200 really does speed things up.





Guess I'm going to have to find a stripe for it now!

Before .....


After ...



and I thought this was a white boat ...

[Salty19]

Wow..200 grit!  Kinda harsh.  Are you using a rubber block? If not, I recommend that and being more patient with higher grit.  Be careful not to take off too much gelcoat.  But I agree if it's heavily oxidized, compounding is worthless, or rather time consuming. 

Use some lube (soap/dawn in a spray bottle works great) and the sanding will be a lot easier.

I used 600 grit first--or was it 800?  I don't recall.   When the color started to came back, I moved up to 1000, then 1200, then 1500 then 2000. At least I think those were the grades (close anyway).  What you'll find is after sanding, the surface is clean and back to the factory color again, but dull and with fine scratches.  The higher value sandpaper will smooth the scratches up to prepare for the mirror shine.

Then compound with 3M.  Last step is 3M Finesse It II polish.  Really makes it shine like new.

Yep, keep sanding and moving up grades--you'll get there.   The good news is if you keep some good wax on it (I use Collinite Fleet Wax..lasts a season and still beads when hauled), it will stay protected from oxidation. Well, at least for several years anyway.

[fawsr]

any sources for ComPac logo or pinstriping? I looked at the Hutchins website but I don't see any parts or accessories.

[Salty19]

Hutchins as the logos.  Give them a call and ask for Matt in parts. 
Their 1/2" gold striping does look pretty nice, but depends on what you're looking for.

Stripes can be found at most any decent boat retailer (defender, west marine, stewart, boatus) in most any color and width you feel will work best.

[skip1930]

A marine product called Penetrol is made to restoer faded fiberglass luster, polish metal, make painting and varnishing easier, and prepare old teak or wood for painting. This is recommended by Hutchins, the makers of Com Pac Yachts. Also mentioned in Hand Book of Trailer Sailing by Bob Burgess.

A marine teak wood finish is Deks Olje [ pronounced Decks Olya ] Clean and brighten teak, wet on wet coats of Deks Olje #1 Matt finish till wood won't absorb any more. Let dry and then one coat Deks Olje #2 gloss with 24 hours of dry time 'tween coats.

If polishing with a buffer, which I don't recommend, GMC has a product called Criss Coat for their old lacquer finish on automobiles before they went to powder coated cars with clear coat on top.

I hand buff the CP-19 with Mequire's #9 a couple of times then a few coats of Mother's Wax each season.

skip.

[fawsr]

Thanks for all the help guys ... I'm sure I'll stumble a few times just hope I get the shine back. Color. The boat is white and light cream and had brown vinyl bootstripe and hand painted upper stripe. I sanded off the upper stripe and the bootstripe is pretty cut up so will go ahead and remove it too. All the sunbrella covers topside are blue so I was thinking maybe blue stripes but not sure how that would match the cream?