Refurbishing SC20

[Kevin Keller]

Hi,

I am not doing a layer of gelcoat and have never worked with it, so I cannot really tell you much about it other than what I have read.

I am just faring the fiberglass with a mixture of aerosol and epoxy which sands smooth fairly easy. I will follow it up with some primer and top coat paint.

Kevin

[Kevin Keller]

Things have been a little busy plus some rain have made it difficult to work on the boat. I am missing some good sailing.

Anyway, I am still working on the transom. I have smoothed out the work and need to sand it, when it stops raining.

[Kevin Keller]

My old inspection ports were cracked and the threads were stripped so I will replace them with new ones. One reason the ports cracked was because the holes weren't quite flat. This is probably due to the boat warping slightly over time. The fiber glass has cracked around the holes also. I started by reinforcing the holes from the inside and the outside. To seat the ports properly I made up some filler and put it around the hole and then placed the new port (covered in Saran wrap) in the hole. After it hardens I will remove the port and fair it in.

There was also a crack in the fiberglass in one of the beam mounts. I ground down to the fiberglass and scarfed the crack. I then filled it in and refiberglassed it. I used both carbon fiber and fiberglass.

[Kevin Keller]

More pictures.

I was completely finished and ready to prime the hulls. I made some more stands so I could raise them up for painting. As I was mounting one of the hulls it rolled over and fell about 3 feet to the ground. The transom hit the cement and the rest of the boat hit the wood floor and a tool box. I cracked some fiberglass around the transom and dented some other parts of the hull. I didn't know a hull could bounce so high. You can imagine how ticked off I was (the neighbors knew). It added an extra 2 days to fix the damage.

I made some new painting stands which I could bolt down the hulls so that if they are bumped (which you will) they won't roll over. I will add those pictures later.

I recommend that of you paint your hulls to hang them if possible. I talked to the previous owner and he said he used the bridal tang and the upper rudder gudgeon to hang it from a ceiling. I painted mine upside down on stands and it made it harder to see the upper deck of the boat while painting. Also your hoses get wrapped around stands. My stands had sharp corners which were always catching the hoses.

[Kevin Keller]

I have four daggerboards which all need work. As I posted in another thread there were some bulges in some of the boards. I had to take them down to the core.

[Kevin Keller]

Getting close.

I was able to use a friend's warehouse for the weekend. Even still I was rushed as things always take much longer than you think.

So what do you think? More pictures to follow.

[george]

Kevin,

Looks great. After painting my hobie 16 last year, I was not pleased with the results for a while. When your face is 6 inches from the boat for several months, it's hard not to see every minor thing. Truth is virtually no one will notice any slight imperfections.

I love the shark heads on the bows!! Thanks for all the posts and pictures. I have put off doing any major work on mine until next winter. I want to get it sailing this summer!

Good luck on the water, and again, looks great.

george

[Kevin Keller]

George,

Thanks for the compliment.

You are right, my eye is much more critical than others, having done the work, and I see any imperfections.

The paint used was PPG's Concept, single stage. One of the beauties of working with this paint is that it is easy to go back and touch up areas. I ended up filling the tiny pinholes with lacquer putty, a light re-sanding, and then top-coating the affected area. It blends in perfectly and after a light sanding and buffing you can't see the repair.

It is a great paint but ain't cheap. I am not sure how it compares in cost to other paints. I bought the paint several months ago but I think it all cost upwards of $900 after all is said and done. I put a sealer coat down first because I was not sure what kind of paint was used previously, so that did not help in the cost. I haven't worked with other paints so I can't really compare any other factors.

It looks pretty good and can't wait to start bombing around the bay again.

Kevin

[Kevin Keller]

Finished product. The sail looks a little funny, I picked it up from a guy on Cape Cod whose SC-20 was destroyed in a storm. Kind of confuses people out here in Hawaii.

I think it is the best looking cat in our club.

We are still mulling over names. Best one so far I think is "Tuna Patrol"

What do you think?

[Kevin Keller]

I had a broken SC20 hull which I cut up to send to the dump. I took some pictures of the forward bulkhead where the bridal tang is attached. It looks to be about a 1/2 inch solid fiberglass board cut to fit which the tang is bolted too. I think the original was wood which would eventually rot and had to be replaced.

[Kevin Keller]

I took a few more pictures of the bridal tang before I took it out and threw the bow away.

[Kevin Keller]

A short video from last year. I don't think I posted it before here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4C2Cg7GsHY

[Tinkersailor]

I had similar trouble on my SC17 when I bought it 2 years ago. I suspect that your gelcoat issue is symptomatic of a more structural problem below. Best to get the grinder out and investigate.

I used plywood drilled to accept the rudder gugeoun bolts to squeez my lamination back into place. Heavy plastic works well as it can wrap the glass/kevlar/carbon repair material around the corner and into the hull sides. Use stretchy hockey tape around the hull to squeez it well.

Leigh

[jbshu24]

Do you know what the bolt backing plate is made from?

I need to do some transom repair to my SC17. I was thinking of installing a removable port hole that can be used for the repair as well as future inspection, but it's only about a 4" hole.

Jon

[Matt Haberman]

Jon,

The backing plate is made from Aluminum plate, 1/4" thick.