Weekender

[rdw_440]

Hi, I just bought a used weekender and would like to make some modifications.

1. She needs a new coat of paint. Can I just paint over the old, or should I remove the old paint

    and use a primer first?

2. What type of paint should I use? (inexpensive but still give good service)

3. She does not have the folding mast, and I would like to build one. Are there any directions that can be

  downloaded, or perhaps does anyone have a set of plans that I could buy (cheap) or borrow for a while.

  Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[Frank Hagan]

As far as paint, you can re-coat what's there if its sound and really sticking to the resin underneath.  To test for adhesion, take an Exacto knife or razor blade and a straight edge and score a crosshatch pattern ... five or six lines and then five or six at 90 degree angle to the first, with about 1/8" between the lines.  Then take a piece of cellophane tape and burnish the end of it down over the crosshatch pattern ... really burnishing it down with your thumbnail or something.  Then rip off the tape.  If it mostly sticks, then you are OK to recoat.  If most of the squares come off, you would be better off removing it and using a good water based primer over the epoxy (if it is epoxied!) and then a good top coat.

You can spend a bundle on paint.  The least expensive method that seems to work is to use a high quality oil based porch or floor paint, and some people swear by Rustoleum.  You'll need to do a test patch and test it as explained above to see if the paint will adhere to what's on there ... a lot of people use latex paint, so you have to make sure the paint is compatible.  Over bare resin, you're better off using a water based primer like Kilz or an epoxy primer.  Going up the cost scale are the marine paints like System Three's water based LPU, Petite or another marine paint.

On the folding mast, the Stevenson's made the plans available for all builders / owners who want it at http://www.stevproj.com/Tabernacle.pdf (that opens a 384k PDF file for you folks on dial up). 

[Barry Pyeatt]

Welcome to the madness.

Tell us a little more about the Weekender you purchased.  How old, what condition is it in now?  Has it been sitting out in the weather?  Is the wood all sound or does some of it need repair first?  Where do you live and how do you plan on using the boat and storing the boat during the off season?   All of these things are important to know up front if you want to do a good job and have it last.

There is a wealth of experience represented in this forum.  Lots of people that have been there and done that before, some professionally and have seen it all or at least most of it and been through all of the steps necessary to refinish a project like the Weekender.  So don't be bashful, ask the questions first and don't hide any of the issues.  

the opinions will vary and there will lots of personal points of view.  Just remember, they all live in different areas than you most likely.  They all use their boats a bit differently and need to store them differently than you may need to.  So the more we know, the better we can help you.

But generally speaking:

The old paint needs to be removed or at least taken down to the point where you are certain that none of it will come off after you apply new primer and paint.  Helpful if you know what it was painted with before you start because there are lots of ways to approach the prep work stage.  

If the outside surfaces are glassed, you need to be really careful that you don't go thru the glass or into it.  Once you damage the weave of the glass, you open yourself to potentially needing a lot more work.  

I would start with about 80 grit and carefully sand an entire area with a ROS until the top coat(s) of paint is/are mostly removed and it is evenly sanded overall.

Then be sure that the corners, hard to get places, etc. are done the same way.  If the surface is uneven or loose beneath the paint you need to be more careful of how far down you sand.  Any loose places need to have the paint removed entirely, even the primer if it isn't solidly in place.  If it is the glass beneath the paint that is loose, you need to cut out that area and be certain that the wood surface below it is sound.  

If the wood isn't sound then the process gets a lot more involved because you need to repair the area with the bad wood first.

Then feather out the area and patch over it with a new piece of about 6 oz. glass and epoxy.  The use of the epoxy once you have sanded the area with 80 grit will allow the epoxy to make a good mechanical bond with the surface.  Where there is paint below, it needs to be removed as the epoxy will adhere to most paint, you just don't know if the paint will adhere to the surface below it or for how long.  Paint over epoxy and primer, not epoxy over paint or primer.

Once it has cured, apply another coat or two of epoxy to fill the weave and to extend beyond the glassed patch so that you can feather out the edges and make the patch less noticable.  Ideally, you will be able to fill in the patched area with a new piece of glass the same size as the part removed. Less issues with overlapping layers then.  Once you allow this to cure, sand this smooth and once the entire area is sanded to your satisfaction, you need to decide how you want to paint this again and with what paint.  

One part polyurethanes do a good job, are easily applied with brush, roller or spray gun and come in a wide variety of colors and can be custom tinted.  A polyurethane formulated for porch and deck use will hold up a good long time without costing an arm and a leg.  Most of these are alkyd based.  A good oil based primer will preceed it.  These don't need to be "Marine" paints.

A good high build exterior oil based primer will do a good job and allow you to apply several coats to even out uneven areas a little with careful sanding with 100-120 grit paper.  Again, don't sand thru it only sand down the high spots.  Then apply another coat to build up the low spots.  Sand down the high spots again and so on until you are satisfied that the surface is as even as you would like, and this is highly subjective.  Several light coats will be better than one heavy coat.   Once the surface is prepared to your satisfaction, wipe it all down with a tack cloth to remove any dust and foreign matter.  Then mask off anything you don't want painted that color and apply your first coat of polyurethane.  Again, light coats are better than a heavy coat.  Let them dry completely and sand lightly to give each coat a little "tooth" for the next coat to bond to.  Then as many coats as you feel you need to get the level of finish that you want.  Wet sanding before the final coat with about 220 grit wet/dry paper.  Then wash it all down to get all the residue off and once completely dry, apply your final coat.  If it is with a roller, tip off with a good quality brush with the strokes all going in one direction to smooth it all out.  If spraying it, use long even passes to do the final coat and then let it dry.  

If you are going on the cheap, then go for the best latex exterior house paint you can get for your buck and the best exterior oil based primer you can afford to go under it.  That doesn't mean the most expensive by any means.  

If the budget isn't the criteria, you can go to "Marine" paints and finishes, but be aware that some of them are not the easiest to apply and the prep work may/will probably be a lot more involved  and require a lot more sophisitcated equipment and protection.  

To make a folding mast, you would cut your mast about 48" up from the bottom of the mast and install a 10" gate hinge with the barrel of the hinge on the side facing the wood, this on the aft side of the mast.   Cut out for the hinge so it is flush and then install another one with the pin removed from the fore side of the mast. The mast will pivot up on the aft hinge and you would slip a pin thru the barrel of the fore hinge to hold it inplace.  You will want to be able to adjust the tension on the shrouds and the forestay and remove them when you drop the mast for travel.  I don't have a drawing that I can show you, but it isn't hard to do.  I've helped a make a couple of folding tabernacles on boats that didn't have them.  It is pretty easy once you just get the gate hinges to fit.  And then get the shrouds to connect easily with turnbuckles to the chainplates.

[rdw_440]

First, thanks for the info to all.

My weekender is 9 yr. old in good condition, the former owner took good care of it, was garage kept.

All the wood is solid, exterior is glassed. I don't what kind of paint was originally used.

Most of the paint problem is peeling/cracking below the waterline with a few dings and dents in the cockpit

and on deck. Mainly I think I just want to go with a different color.

What exactly does epoxy mean? Is this the same as the fiberglass resin, or a different type of product? Also,

on the Stevenson site, they mention using auto body filler, is this the same thing known as "bondo"?

As far as the folding mast, it looks as if it won't be too difficult to do, I'm just a little scared to make that saw cut,

don't want to screw it up!

I'm sure I will have a lot more questions. I'm glad I found this site and all this expertise to help me along.

[Frank Hagan]

The Weekender is a very forgiving boat, so if you ruin the mast, its pretty easy to build a new one (its a tapered 4x4 in the plans). 

Epoxy is the resin of choice now ... there are several different types, but epoxy resin is more waterproof and also really, really sticks to wood.  The older polyester fiberglass resin, still used to make solid fiberglass boats, doesn't stick as well to wood and can delaminate.

If the paint is sticking well to the resin, I would patch and paint over it.  Avoid "auto body filler" or Bondo on the outside of the boat where water can get to it ... it tends to soak up water and disintegrate.  It can be hard to repaint if you don't know if the original paint is oil or water based.  There are some products out there that clean up latex paint spills, and you can use that to test a spot to see if it dissolves the paint (you find this stuff in the paint department at Lowes or Home Depot). 

[ScottWidmier]

Lots of good advice here.  Just wanted to put my 2 cents in realy.  I have used both Latex and Oil based paints of all varieties from different stores in order to save money.  I have slowly come to the realization that Innerlux marine paint is actually fairly close in price to these and much easier to apply.  First, Innerlux requires much fewer coats (less paint) to get a good finish so a quart goes a lot longer than normal paint.  To paint the same boat I used almost a gallon of oil based porch enamel and a quart and a half of innerlux.  I had to repaint the boat because the Behr brand porch enamel started peeling off the boat.  (before folks ask, this boat had been built 3 years prior and cleaned many times so no blush).  Second, this paint is self-leveling which means it flows over minor flaws and brush strokes simply disappear.  Translates into less prep time and easier painting since you don't have to take as much care to avoid brush strokes as with regular paints.  Third, this paint is undeniably longer lasting and much tougher than regular paint which means much less maintence and less money spent repainting over the years.  Finally, Innerlux has teflon in it and, while I don't normally put much faith in addititives, this paint does seem to release stains and smuges a lot easier.  Now, I have only used Innerlux marine paint so maybe others can speak for other brands.

As for the mast, gate hinges have been a successful and easy solution for tabernacle on Stevenson's boat.  However, hinges have a lot of slop meaning your mast will flop around until you get the shrouds and stays tighened.  I prefer a more traditional tabernacle setup which is a lot stiffer and sturdier even before you connect the stays and shrouds.  It also looks more traditional and is about as easy to make.  In the following pictures (boat painted with innerlux at this point) you can see my tabernacle setup using some heavy metal pieces I bought at Home Depot.  Note the 45 degree angle cut at the tabernacle.  You could take your existing mast, cut this angle in and then build this tabernacle.