Varnish or paint in bilge

[62cruiserinc]

Hello!

I just joined this forum after Andreas informed me of its existence on another forum.

Thank You immensely, Andreas, for pointing me here. I was looking for a Cruiser Inc forum for a long time but never thought of Thompson.

I am in the middle of renovating a 1962 Cruiser Inc 202 and a 1962 Kiekhaefer Mercury 700 70hp outboard. I am not rying to do a perfect restoration, but renovate it so that our family can use it for fun. I would like to keep the outward appearance as original-looking as possible.

The boat and outboard was given to me by a co-worker. The boat has been out of the water since 1994 but stored indoors in a barn.

I have been reading the forum postings on this site for the last few days and it's apparent that the members know a lot more about my boat than I do!

The previous owner has confirmed that there is a leak at the outer keel. I have removed the windshield, floor, engine splash shelf and exterior trim. Also the outer keel and stem are removed.

Here is a picture of the bilge after some light power-washing:



It looks pretty good in general, the plywood is solid but the top layer is checking in a few places and a few rib ends are suspect. See the closeup below:



After I removed the outer keel, the plywood under it was very solid, but there might be some rot in spots at the bottom of the inner keel:



I have two questions right now:

1) Should I varnish or paint the bilge/underfloor area. I want the visible area above the floor to stay varnished, but I don't care if the underfloor bilge area is varnished or painted. Would it be easier (less preparation) to paint or varnish? Pros and Cons of each?

2) I was thinking of sealing the inner keel/garboard joint with epoxy (turn the boat over and fill the joint) and letting it cure. Then I would seal the outer keel to the joint later. It seems that this would create a "double seal" to prevent leaking and also fill any voids with epoxy. Bad idea or good idea?


Thanks
Steve

[Michael J. Seiber]

Welcome aboard Steve. I have a 1963 202.

Your first question. It all depends on how much work you want to do on the boat and how good of a job you want. Painting the bilge is out of the question in my opinion for if no other reason than it wasn't that way when it was built. If you don't remove all of the varnish then you should just revarnish it. If you are looking to do a really good job of it, I would remove the varnish and use an epoxy on it. CPES or something similar. It looks like varnish but impregnates the wood and helps prevent rot.

Question two. I would not use epoxy on the seam. You need something more flexable for both the seam and for putting the outer keel back on. I'm sure you will get other relpies and good ideas here.

[LancerBoy]

Welcome aboard!

If you want to paint the bilge, you will have to first strip off the existing varnish. So, it makes sense to varnish it and omit a lot of work. Sand down the existing varnish where it is peeling. Scuff up the rest a bit with a scrubby pad. Clean, clean, clean and then apply your new varnish. You can thin it.

Remember to NEVER stick your brush into the can of varnish. Pour the varnish into a secondary container like a plastic Cool Whip tub. Strain the varnish too. If you have left over varnish, do NOT pour it back into the can. This contaminates the can of varnish.

I would recommend against a hard epoxy such as West System or System Three. These are just too hard and they don't flex.

Replace any bad wood (rotten or split or cracked...) with new wood. Screw holes can be drilled out and plugged with a dowel glued in. Seal everything with a clear penetrating epoxy sealer such as Smith's CPES. You must remove any old varnish or paint finish in order for CPES to penetrate. Prime piant. Use caulk such as BoatLife LifeCaulk. Back butter the outer keel and outer stem before reinstallation and use your finger to remove excess when you screw/bolt 'em down. Make a nice clean fillet.

Andreas

[62cruiserinc]

Many of the screws (#12 x 2") holding the outer keel were broken off. They did not appear to break off while removing them, but probably were broken previously. They did not break off near the head, but the last 1/2" of length that is in the inner keel. If they had broken off near the head, there would have been some screw projecting from the inner keel to grab with pliers and unscrew.

What should I do about the screw holes with a small broken piece of screw deep inside the hole? I could fill the existing holes with epoxy or a plug and drill new holes near the old holes (the original screws are about 8" apart).

Thanks
Steve