Oyster

My go to bottom paints for boats that's design to sit largely on trailers, most of their lives, I stick to the Interlux Ultra hard bottom paints so that i don't get the chalky residue on my hands, body or on the bunk carpets. This is the case with most Ablative paints. Now of course it cost more and most come in gallon only cans. But your prep work ,unlike if you want the fine arts finish from topcoat paints is fairly simple and straight foward. Interprotect 2000E over your glass work after some fairing compound to fill the weave of course the paint over and proper prep work. This method had worked from this end.

Say what? I am afraid that my puter will crash if I install the Y2K version. I will try it on my bride's computer tomorrow. By the way moderator, I get this at the bottom of my post, which restrict me from posting this message. "The value entered includes a character that is not allowed such as an Emoji."

Lucky dog, being on the pretty body of water these days. When I click on the link it takes me to the Google link with the black screen. But when I click on the black screen all I get is one big black screen and a blue spinning icon. Maybe its my old fashioned windows 98 puter.

I cannot get the video to show or open.

So far the state of N.C. has been one of the only states with some common sense as it relates to registering home built boats. But I have been holding my breath and waiting until some import decides to bring their complicated and multiple steps to the state to register these types of one off boats. Reading the horrors of getting a one off home built boat registered in a ton of other states is enough to make someone not build one if they research this ahead of time. We all take a long period of time to complete these projects. And we don't always keep receipts as good as we should of the many pieces that goes into building one over time. I had rather not know or mess with what it costs to get one in the water for my on personal use. It makes the experience better and more enjoyable. Where else do you find something that you can take five minutes to fill out a simple check the box two page form and sign it and mail it in and in two to three weeks you are in business to add your numbers and stickers to the boat without and hassle without any further ado. I will add that you can go to most trophy outfits and get them to do an engraved contrast color plastic sticker with your hull number and place it on your transom, many with small screws at each end if you ask and one inside under your gunnels, or in a locker somewhere to further generate a nice touch and legal process.

Yes, the humidity does slow the drying of Wet Edge. But like so many varnishes over epoxy this has also been the case. So whether its a bonding issue of some out gassing of fresh materials over certain primers or the combination of the enviroment creating the slowing drying times, its hard to tell. Normally the thicker the material, the longer drying times. So I also took this into consideration. My favorite generic Rustoleum, XO Rust covers really good, but takes a bit longer to dry in damper conditions in the summertime. My experience is that Wet Edge has more body to it than the Brightsides, which was fairly thin. This has always required many more coats to achieve enough paint to cover your primer and stay glossy down the road. It will and has mildewed for me if my boat has sat for any length of time. I have not heard the reason for its demise and removal from the paint selections. But it was overpriced for what I felt it was worth for the long term durability. Of course I used to use my boat a lot more than many garage trailer queens. :<}

Well Brightsides is no longer avaialable. But I subscribe to the method of using Interprotect 2000 for a barrier coat for the bottom primer, sand PROPERLY and then paint over it with any and all topcoats. If I use a two part paint i also used the brand's primer over it before applying the topcoat. If its a day use boat from a trailer, I have never had a problem, even using a generic brand of Rustoleum, XO Rust from True Value hardware. There is a new single enamel, Wet Edge that i have used and its far superior to the Brightside paints. . One a point is turned over upright, I am not really interested in dealing with blistering paints.

I am not really a fan of plastic tanks. I use aluminum tanks from RDS and always coat them with either Coal Tar Epoxy or Interprotect 2000 barrier coat . Once you install a tank below deck, you may need to tear up a bunch of stuff to change out the tank when you get some smell or leaks. Plastic tanks, unless they have changed have fuel gauges installed in them. And overtime, even if you do not get any smell that wicks thru the plastic, with expansion and contraction the screws have a way of working free and gas leaks from around the threads. [just my observation, even in production fiberglass boats with plastic tanks below decks too. ] There are outlets that custom build just about any size or shape, of course with some lead time.

You are working tirelessly to make things more user friendly. I may never want to sell it either, if you continue to improve it. We have been seriously sidetracked with family issues for most of the boating spring and summer. We had to update the trailer supports, typical for all these off the shelf trailers. But its solid for the road without the engine installed on the bracket of course. Then we did float the bare hull with some simulated weights spaced across the hull. That was fun. It will be going to its co-owner in the near future for the fun inside, glassing all the stringers inside and building the cabin to fit their needs. [note popped up to mod, emojis not allowed to be entered in this post.] hum,

If you have a west marine, [I know] they can bring it in on their trucks without freight charges and you can pick it up there. I also back fill the hollow back and have never had a problem with it collapsing when beating pilings, if applicable in your case. This also keeps water from possibly following the threads and into any wood that the rails are attached to over time. The six foot pieces will work. But even with the 12 foot pieces you may need to drill new holes at the ends, depending on how you lay it off so the spacing of the holes workout for fastening . I also use a metal counterbore the new holes.

Well you can create a wooden frame , known as a wooden wheel and rolled it over with the right combination of room and related equipment. But we wanted to get it up on the trailer with simplicity and less time consuming. Sometimes you cry "uncle" though without crying uncle. We weighed the value coupon against manual labor and the added effort. For our situation the extra effort and materials to get the strongback mobile from the ground in the confined space and on the other side of the yard to the driveway may have been a bit of an overkill. But it was grand beyond wild imagination for the uneven humps and angles. But the setup was absolutely the ticket and two people pushed while one person steered. But the project is a slow and steady piece of work that will hopefully be completed in the next couple of years, if things goes as planned. How do you eat an elephant? one bite at a time. Now its time for Alan to point us in the right direction of locating the fuel tank and related parts to be incorporated under the deck for the desired interior layout that will be determined once we clean out the non essential parts. . By the way I highly recommend solid 8" casters in lieu of pneumatic ones on solid surfaces.

Well we finally got to the stage of flipping.

There is a pink color in awlgrip. Of course its a bit harder to paint and a bit more expensive. But there are large sportfishermen painted pink. So its not taboo at all. One of the largest builders did several custom builds for an owner that his entire family was all women. So they called the boats Seven Days. This is their color chart. I did a kayak in this color. https://www.p2marine.com/documents/awlgrip/awlgrip-color-card.pdf

Well its been a while and I have neglected posting any finish work shots, since the work is fairly boring in color. And pictures from phones are way to large and I don't know how to transfer them to here, which also are huge. But i have reached the point that I think I am within a week of finally getting the final coat of topcoat in it. Life has a way of altering the best laid plans. Fairing was not as easy as it used to be. Its been a while since I used a gorilla board to sand and fair and had really forgot about how much fun it was and excersize I got when getting up close and personal with the real warmth that wood gives you.? . But the summer was a bit humid and gummy on the surface, which slowed the process too. So anyway, upon finishing a bit more high build primer in areas and sanding, then topcoat, she will see sunshine and the inside will see sunlight too after the flip.

The Messabout can also be bad on your wallet when you get in the group of idle handed wood addicts these days, a slightly dusty shop with stacks of full sheet plywood, an active computer screen with boat drawings and one leader with "special suggestions". There is are always room for improvements , no matter what your fully built hulls may be waiting for your next trip. Good to catch up with some of your guys on this thread and forum again. Someone was promising follow up reports of the week and weekend. [hint, hint] Nick, good to see your re-creation in action.