Deck repair advice

Cripes - what is the yacht design?

That blue paint looks like it was laid on with a trowel - and this is probably part of the cracking problem due to too thick a coating and possibly insufficient surface cleaning by the original applicator - if this was you apologies am not trying to be negative - the hole in the paint in the middle upper 1/3 of the photo looks very unexpected - mind you all the cracks do also. The apparent silicon or polyurethane sealant along the cabin and gunwale corners is also unexpected. The cabin side and gunwale appear to be 2 pack polyurethane paint coated over the original gelcoat. Is this correct? On the gunwale this coating seems like it could be refurbished also - but not of the same priority as the blue.

How old is the blue paint and do you know what exact type it was? Probably a single pack non skid deck paint?

If you try and Dremel out all the cracks in the paint you surely will be doing that till the end of time, and end up with a surface like a badly cracked very dry river bed.......strongly suggest don't do this.

Rather and sorry to say imho all the blue paint and sealant needs to be completely removed, to get back to the moulded deck including the non-skid original surface, and start from there. The sealant will probably be easily removed by digging it out at a cabin corner and gunwale ending and simply pulling it up in one long string. It will probably break in the process along the string - just keep repeating. Sand off the remainder but this will leave a problem as the 2 edges which are adjacent to the cabin sides and gunwale - hence might well need the polyurethane 2 pack renewed on these. Depends what your budget, time and desired result is.

For the blue paint would suggest it all needs to be removed - can't think of anything else but using a suitable paint stripper to get all of it off - this would probably need multiple applications and be very messy - do it in small areas at a time and it will probably need multiple applications. And maybe after that acetone or isopropyl alcohol and stiff plastic bristle scrubbing brush will probably be needed. Then sand and apply the Kiwigrip iaw their instructions. We have used Kiwigrip recently and it is brilliant. For your case it wouldn't hurt to contact them directly to check if the above is logical - if not what would they recommend. Whatever I can't see anything being painted over the paint and sealant you show there - surely it all has to be removed completely.

www.pyiinc.com/KiwiGrip/

I recently did a boat with kiwigrip. They are super helpful if you contact them. my boat was gelcoat in poor condition with some raw glass showing through. Lots of cracks.
if it was me I would attack it with a wire brush and scraper. If the blue paint is holding then the kiwi grip will probably hold to that. Then maybe a coat of primer and then the kiwigrip.
the kiwigrip covers every imperfection really well. Put it on thick. The spikes wear down with time. Practise on some ply. Then practise on the anchor locker hatch or something. I used a notched trowel to spread evenly before using the roller.
I would however be running the plan past the guys at kiwigrip.

What a great reply with complete attention to detail by R13.

Just out of interest - if you use the paint stripper and brushing/sanding as described, what does the original moulded non-skid pattern look like at the end - is the intention to end up with totally flat surface, or will the pattern still have ridges and valleys?

If there's still ridges, the valleys will be filled with left-over blue paint. How do you get rid of that - simple as a bit more paint stripper or would you need mechanical removal?

Thanks Karsten, great comments as always from Ramona and jbarnes85.

As regards the original moulded non-skid pattern I would expect that - depending on what the paint is - it should essentially all come off with the suitable paint stripper probably applied more than once, then the acetone or IPA, including in the valleys of the original moulding pattern. Certainly the intention is not to flatten out / smooth out the original moulding peaks to get a smooth flat surface - no need to do that just get rid of all the blue paint. For sure if the valleys cannot be cleared of the blue paint with multiple paint stripper applications and acetone or IPA - note that removing the paint everywhere including in the valleys is the reason for the recommended use of these 3 chemical solvents - sure some mechanical rotary wire brush means should be used. But this is where the Kiwigrip gurus come in - as per above get their input so that you don't have to waste too much time or effort on the valleys if they become a major task to clear. They will recommend a suitable primer presumably once most of the blue has been removed. But there is nothing worse than putting a new coating system over an inappropriately prepared surface and expecting it to come up as new - including an inappropriate paint system left there.

Microbe the S22s are obviously a brilliant boat - wish more were over here in Sydney so I could buy one. I would take the anchor locker or forehatch home and do the process in your shed, including optimising it, then move on to the rest. The effort will be well worthwhile for that boat. A 2 pack undercoat before the Kiwigrip would be recommended - check with Kiwigrip - this one should be suitable;

www.boatingcentral.com.au/products/norglass-shipshape-epoxy-primer-undercoat?variant=31970599534675&sfdr_ptcid=39153_389_638879944&sfdr_hash=52825ce878ac8a96d131c145478c8aaf&cmp_id=10269106712&adg_id=102482714797&kwd=&device=c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2oLQtPWD7AIVxHwrCh0L7wp1EAYYASABEgJMcfD_BwE

Well I think you have done the best thing " to busy sailing her " which is what sailing boats are for. Now I second replacing/ checking rig and chain plates before making it look pretty. Can't advise on the paint except kiwi grip seems to stick and cover everything as long as the surface your painting is not peeling off. Don't forget to post pics of progress .

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rumblefish said..
Replace the rigging and check to chainplates while you're at it!!
Those turnbuckles look around 20+ years old and I don't like the look of the chainplate welds!
Fancy deck is no good if the mast falls on it!!

Good point rumblefish. Rerigging is also on my to do list. Its going to be a while before I can get space on the hard stand to do any painting, so I'll focus on the rigging and paint prep first.

Can those chainplate fittings be bought off the shelf, or are they always custom made?

The paint and gel coat cracking could be a sign of weakness of the chain plate attachment, or over tension at some point, I'd be investigating possible deck flex 1st, then grind out all the offending material and lay it up with epoxy

Yep. I'll definitely be fixing up the rigging before I go sailing again. Bit of work to do. The chainplates are fastened through the deck to plates that spread the load and there is a strap on the inside of the cabin, from the cabin side to half way down the hull. The rig is held up by four bolts each side.

Here's a wider shot of the deck showing general position of the patch i scraped back.

That scraped patch is further from the chainplates than I thought.
The "A" frame for lowering the mast can be seen in the photo.

gary

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Microbe said..
Yep. I'll definitely be fixing up the rigging before I go sailing again. Bit of work to do. The chainplates are fastened through the deck to plates that spread the load and there is a strap on the inside of the cabin, from the cabin side to half way down the hull. The rig is held up by four bolts each side.

Here's a wider shot of the deck showing general position of the patch i scraped back.

Is it a trailersailer?

You've got an A frame and an extended chain plate for raising or lowering the mast. However, that could be there to get under the Fremantle Bridge.

If a trailer sailer, get a trailer and drag it somewhere to work on it. (PS getting a trailer for a trailer sailer is a mission, and you could easily spend more on the trailer than the value of the boat)

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Microbe said..
So I did a bit of investigation and pulled up a bit of paint near those cracks. Looks like the cracks go all the way through the gel coat. I can see some of the glass fibre showing through. The chips came up really easily and there is signs of dirt underneath the gel coat - getting in through the cracks i guess. The cracking is only in a few spots near the chainplates. Any tips on how to proceed?

Ouch! The gel coat is the least of your worry. The dry fibers in the glass is bad news and like Ramona said you'll have to strip it all back to glass then use epoxy to wet it then cover it with a layer of multiaxial fiberglass cloth. BIG job and you'll be needing a bit of epoxy and cloth to do the whole job. Maybe worth looking at getting the materials before you start stripping back the gelcoat. I get my epoxy and cloth from trojanfibreglass.com.au/product/500-series-epoxy-laminating-resin-51/ and takes about 1 week to arrive from Newcastle but a bit cheaper then Fibreglass and Resin Sales in Welshpool.

If you have access to 240V forget the battery grinder and get yourself a 7" variable speed car polisher with M14 spindle thread so you can use 5"-7" velcro pads and sanding discs. The speed controller allows you go down to a few hundred rpm which gives you better control of how much material you remove with it and leaves you with flatter surfaces then a flap wheel. For fast strip use 40grit and when it comes to sanding down the filler you can use 80-120 grit then 240 grit to sand the primer.
Don't know where you can get 7" velcro pads and sanding discs locally since I've got mine from eBay but the 5" pads and discs you can get from Bunnings. I kept the old velcro pads with worn edges and old sanding discs and cut them down to smaller sizes all the way to about 2" so I can get them into tighter spots and corners where the 5" won't fit.
This is the 7" car polisher I got from eBay to use for sanding and shaping fiberglass and wood and for cutting glass I use the 5" grinder with 1mm or 1.6mm metal cut off discs.

I'm itchy from the dust already. Looking at your original picture it looks like there was some sailtrack along the deck there. you can see the round holes. These may not have have been filled which would provide ingress of moisture into your laminate that may have advanced it's degradation.

Lots of good advice about how to remedy it, I would be thinking about the effect on safety and hull/deck/rig integrity and how far you go in digging it out.

Of more concern to me is the cracks and discolouration in the chainplate area in the first photo. Irrespective of repairing the remainder of the deck surface I would be looking at those bolts as they are a candidate for crevice corrosion. What do they attach to on the inside? Even if the nuts look OK, you may have some weakening of the bolt shank.

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woko said..
I've become a veteran of useing a grinder on a moored boat, and yes the battery jobs are OK for little patches, a 240v 5" can be run from a small generator and beats the battery job hands down. A tarp strung along the life lines and a blower vac to vac with keeps the job mostly contained. I try to chip as much out as possible to reduce the fine mess, it's easy with steel, just hit it with a hammer ! And by the way that smiths and arrow gear that Ramona pointed to is all top quality, cheaper than the big green shed and delivered pronto

When you buy it on special. The Zirconia seems better than Bunnings stuff. Brilliant on stainless steel and makes short work on fiberglass.

Yep, the Poly stripper disk's aka brumby disk)
are the shot

Well done on your research there including getting feedback from another owner. Class sites usually have very good information and a wealth of background details on design improvements if needed.
I am very surprised that at least the cap shrouds don't go down to a stainless strap shear bolted to a suitable bulkhead - see below photos of Columbia 22 arrangement where the caps go to such a bulkhead and the fore and aft lowers go to stainless plates under the side deck adjacent to the cabin side junction corner. So this provides a nominally suitable arrangement but these days fore and aft lowers are not used on such small yachts and the single lower diagonal goes to the same spot as the cap, with swept back spreaders also being used to avoid the inner forestay.
Anyway it nominally sounds like a good re-design arrangement - but ideally the ply core you are inserting and the new epoxy resin glass work would go from that badly damaged area to say 300mm aft of the aft lowers. So this means mast down to do the repairs.
The next issue is what is the hull topsides structural arrangement at the junction of the ss straps or wire strops from the cap and diagonal saddles under the deck? If this is not solid enough the topsides will pull in like a hungry horse. Am sure the owner who has done this has it sorted suitably and he has advised you the details - would trust it is a large ply gusset going the whole width of the sidedeck down to the saloon settee berth junction with the inside of the hull - hence making a partial gusset bulkhead very well glassed into the side deck, topsides and settee berth junction.
See 3rd attached photo below I just found this on the web where the SS22 arrangement seems to have a ss strap shear bolted to the cabin side then going to a fitting at the settee berth to hull side junction, and a wire strop also. If properly done this should work but the details of the fitting on the hull side is hard to see - looks like 2 bolts in shear holding the strap and strop, presumably suitably csunk bolted through the hull down lower under the junction. The above deck chain plate could be a 3 bend bent flatbar with the 3 bolt leg on the cabin side holding the cap, and the 2 bolt leg along the deck laterally holding the diagonal by means of large saddles above and below. I don't want to interfere but if you want me to do a mud map sketch of this 3 bend flatbar this is easily done please advise.