Panache

Ever looked up at your rigging when motoring, you can get some nasty vibrations in the stays especially if the prop is a bit out of balance, or in some rev ranges the motor can be a bit rough causing the whole lot to shake even a small amount. All this can lead to fatigue over time.

Getting to the point on my boat restoration where I need to decide on what brand of paint to use. Panache will be spray painted. I have had mixed results with various brands of paint over the years. So much sanding and prep goes into getting a good glossy finish I want it to last. What I would like to know is how many years are you getting from your modern 2 pack polyurethane marine spray/brushing paints before they suffer surface degradation in the form of chalking and loss of gloss. I was thinking of painting the hull a dark blue which would show any early signs of chalking. Thanks

I have used citric acid based concrete etcher ( from Bunnings etc) to disolve calcium build ups in heat exchangers. It is easy on seals etc and is not very toxic so might be OK for this application.

I used laundry powder mixed with warm water to break the surface oil down, put enough in the bilge to cover the oil contaminated areas, left it for a week or so, scrubbed the bilge every few days, repeated the process untill the bulk of the oil was gone from the surface timber. Dried it out, sanded the bilge as best as I could and put two coats of epoxy in the bilge. If you leave the bilge cleaned but uncoated for too long the oil will migrate back to the surface. My bilge was originally evedured then painted with red lead and very oily, it is now epoxied and painted white. Cheers Paul

Too late, found the stuff washed up in Kaperio bay after a strong NE several weeks ago. There wasn't a lot, but some had taken hold in rock pools. It is here unfortunately, anchoring restrictions etc arn't going to have much of an impact. Nature is doing a wonderful job of spreading it.

Not so long ago. Don't see this very often.

Nylon 6/6 preferably glass filled to increase it's tensile strength. Black if you can get it, the carbon black acts as a uv blocker. Nylon is good for 6-7 years before it starts breaking down then it is generally just surface chalking. uhmwpe without uv stabilisers is only good for about 18 months. Macplas plastics have a good range and are not too expensive. Hope this helps. Cheers Paul

Yes it was a long time ago, all brushable poyurethanes are slow cure to make them brushable, The Altex 321 I painted on the inside of the cabin roof the other day seemed to take an eternty to go off. I put a fan heater on inside the boat before I started because there was condensation and I was painting inside. When I paint the outside I will do what you have suggested and heat the whole boat up.

I contacted Interlux several times about this problem, they didn't want to know, didn't send a rep out to view the boat, basically ignored me. All I wanted from them was to include the slow cure dew problem in the literature when they next reviewed it. I don't know if that ever happened as I rarely use their products anymore. Need a warm night with a light breeze, hopefully that will happen. Good luck.

I have just done the inside of the cabin top with 321, didn't thin it and had to tip the rolled surface off. The finish is good and really glossy. I used the Interlux version when it first came out on the decks of my old boat. What I didn't realise was how slowly it cured. I was all finished about 2pm in the afternoon, the dew came down about 10pm and completely destroyed the finish. There was nothing in any of their literature warning about outdoor use. I ended up having to redo the decks by spraying with 2 pack car lacquer that goes off fast to avoid the dew problem. Fingers crossed it all w

I would say the hull and cabin structure flexed. A well known surveyor told me a story about a Beneteau sailing to Fiji some years ago. It spent around 4 days on the wind in around 20 knts of breeze. The deck slowly bent upward under the head sail sheeting loads and all of a sudden a couple of windows just popped out of their holes. Clearly the deck and cabin structure crept under load. Apparently it was a bit of a major repair.