Boat Builder Central

Got the decks glassed up last weekend, quick sand to knock down the peel ply texture and squeegeed on some microspheres. First coat, will obviously need a second once it's done, but the first coat is always the worst to put down. Following coats always seem to adhere more easily and you can make the...

Thanks. The bottom looks great from afar, but is far from good! It's an old racing yacht, several laminate repairs with some average gelcoat matches and that sort of thing. Probably a 7/10 as it is. I do intend to go back and rework the bad gelcoat repairs after the decks are done. Bottom came out g...

We have a public holiday this monday where I live, so I took the friday off beforehand. Makes for a great mini-break. Got all my ducks in a row, taped up the foredeck, cut up some glass and peel ply, and got it done. I was worried about working in direct sunlight, but it's only 21c here right now an...

Looks like an old Vickers Easy Rider hull, they are excellent rough water boats and built like tugboats. I had an 18ft Easy Rider, it didn't have any hook on the bottom. These boats were built to be able to have twin outboards on them back in the day, so the transom area is very heavily built. I wou...

And where I am as of today. I have the fore and after decks sanded off, plus I have chased cracks on the side decks. Both side decks had a crack right over where the hull bonded to the deck due to years of flexing, and the starboard side deck had a huge complex of spider cracks emanating from an old...

The deck gelcoat was doomed to fail from the day the boat was built. As I mentioned, the decks of these boats are very lightly built, and even new, they have quite a bit of bounce in them. The foredeck is more heavily built than the afterdeck, and has the benefit of more crown and a laminated egg cr...

Yes, the deck, where I find myself now.After turning the hull back upright, it was time to formulate a plan. I pretty well knew the old getcoat had to come off in some areas, as trying to patch it here and there would be futile, especially with how lightly built the decks are on racing yachts of thi...

I knew the deck had been very badly painted before I bought the boat, fairly obviously to hide a severely failing gelcoat. I also knew the hull had spent some time in fresh water with no antifouling and was badly oxidised, so the first thing I tackled was flipping the hull, cutting the gelcoat back ...

A loooong while ago I bought this old girl as a complete package on a trailer, minus the keel. I am fundamentally stupid and have an urge to save old boats that are cosmetically challenged, but basically sound. I've also always had a long love of Flying fifteens and have owned one before. As soon as...

I built some oars not too long ago, it's quite an intuitive process once you get started. I made my blades out of curved plywood, but my oars were built purely for rowing distances and exercise, so the extra eficiency was worth the effort for me. The other advantages of a plywood blade are ease of r...