Some work I did in Spring 2013

[MacGyver]

Hey everyone, just sharing some photos of some work I did at the marina in spring of 2013.
I bottom painted Crazy Carl's 19, but besides that I had a TON of work this year thankfully.

The weather made it hard to get it all done, but we finally caught up!
To start, we had a number of bottom jobs, that also needed 2000 (primer/barrier coat)
I also had 2 keel seperation and reattachment jobs. In the pictures (to which I dont have before pics....... I guess I wasnt thinking......) The black keel has 2 bulbs that bolt on from each side, both had to be removed and reattached, and the keel ground down and resurfaced, along with grinding out the attachment to the boat.
Lots of hours involved, sorry for no before pictures........ that would help put it into perspective.... but before it had all rust and about 7 layers of different paints and such covering the rust, and wasnt smooth, had the connection lines, and gashes.....



This next set was a Keel that needed removed and reattached. The LEAD weighed in at 4586 lbs (as stamped on the top after it was separated) and it was separated due to a leaking bilge. This job run a cost of about 2700 to complete. The seperation alone was a 8 hour job, and 5200 was to blame. The front bolt is in the boat about 3 feet before it gets a nut. the next 3 are in the bilge, and get a nut after about 3/4 inches of glass, and the last bolt was about a foot into the boat before nutted.
I separated it with sledge hammers and wood log wedges, and hacksaw blades. Also tried using Anti Bond. This ended up being the hardest keel I have ever seperated. She took a bunch of work.
I drew a lot of spectators..... hard to keep em away when you are working to separate it....Then you get it separated and you set everything back down to start a 1 day process of glueing it all back together.
Went really well, and the owner keeps telling me everytime he sees me (He is a SUPER PICKY DUDE......) That I did a excellent job. Makes me feel good inside.
Last time I saw him was right before it went in.... him and 3 other guys were guessing where the seam was....... You cant tell after I faired it all back in which is critical to a RACER............ Feels good to turn out work like that.
Anyway, here is a few pics:




I installed 2 Raymarine i50 units, 2 Raymarine i40 units, repaired a bow hole and did some gelkote which I hate cause that never turns out all that well..... the color match sucks.
Fixed 5 thru hulls, completed some hull damage on a Hunter 30, installed a EZ glide track on a mast.....and rebuilt 2 toilets.....

Glad to be caught up finally!
NOW WHEN WILL IT FINALLY LET UP TO SAIL?

Mac

[Bob23]

Mac:
   Great work...you must only sleep 2 hours a night! Do you guys soda blast your bottoms before barrier coat? I'm thinking about having my 23 done in the fall but around here (NJ) it's obscenly expensive. I may resort to Peel Away but I'd need to have her blocked up at a marina.
   Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience here at the site.
Bob23

[jgsharpe]

Nice work, Mac!

[MacGyver]

Thanks guys!

Bob23, I used to only sleep 2 hours a night before that lightning taught me very valuable life lessons. LMAO
Now I just make good use of time management...... well, with the aid of my lovely wife.

I have never seen a bottom blasted, only heard about it. We use sanders and vacs to gobble up all the paint. The vacs have dust bags in them which makes it nice as it is all contained when we go to dump it. Here, if it goes in a dumpster, the cycle is complete for us legally, and being on Federal ground we not only follow the state laws, but the feds also. We get inspected 4 times a year, randomly.

What is nice, is on all the Core of Engineers controlled lakes our marina is used as the standard. We take great pride in that. They actually have to struggle for the most part to find things wrong which typically ends up with being "replace these dock boards" and a hand shake with "Job well done" under their breaths.
The sanding then typically follows up with the barrier coat, put on pretty thick, and bottom paint of choice.

We have a specific spot to clean the sanders at. The units we have we rent for 5 dollars an hour, we supply a really good quality disc "MIRKA" (Which arent cheap) and also help to get you started. Just last week I sanded a small spot on a guys boat to show technique and also talked with them about safety equipment and etc. For instance, if you are running a sander, etc loud monotonous device, wearing hearing protection will not only save your hearing but will also extend that persons ability to work through reducing the stresses on the body due to the loud noises. (I am full of information...... sometimes too much...)

The units we use are a non variable speed, FEIN sander, 6 inch size. Vacs are also FEIN.

I just watched a guy use a shop vac and a RIGID sander sand his.... took a while, but was doable.
The chemical stripping has been done. I wansn't impressed, neither was the user.....

A type of stuff I have seen at a woodworker show was SOY-GEL, a green stripper (you can eat this stuff, doesnt hurt your hands) and I specifically asked about bottom paint remover, he said he has it and tried it. Takes about a day or 2 to totally do the job, but beats sanding!

I have yet to try it for myself.......

Mac

[Bob23]

Thanks, Mac:
   I've tried Peel Away and it worked great. Bought it at Home Depot. But don't try putting it on in hot weather or you will find yourself inventing new curse words! Horrible experience! If I could find and affordable soda blaster, I'd pay him to do the job. If not, maybe I'll invest in the Fein vac and sander.
   Love the Fein tools but I have neither the sander or vac. I do have the MultiMaster which has become an indespensible weapon in our arsenal of tools. I 've seen some of the cheapo knock-offs but I think the original can't be beat!
   Glad you keep a clean marina...important especially important here where all the crap goes into the Bay.
Bob23

[wes]

Bob - the Demi-God Don Casey says, and I quote (p. 432, This Old Boat):

"Never, ever let a boatyard staff convince you to sandblast, sodablast, or shotblast with any medium to remove paint from your hull - unless the hull is steel. Sandblasting a fiberglass boat ALWAYS damages the gelcoat, compromising its impermeability and almost certainly leading to hull blisters. Even if you are planning on sealing the gelcoat after stripping, sandblasting is still a bad idea. Any operator incompetence or inattention will cause damage to the underlying laminate. Yards like sandblasting because it is fast, not because it is smart."

Thus it is written. Thus shall it be.

Wes