Hi all,
I picked up a mid-70's H14 last summer in decent condition (newish main sail, newish tramp - but stained, mast/rigging in good condition). I think a proud owner once owned the boat and for whatever reason the boat was passed on to a not-so-loving owner who kept the boat in the water all summer.
In any case, the hulls have a few scratches / small gouges from neglect, so I got some aqua mend rub putty and filled any knick or scratch I could find as I assume water would penetrate the gelcoat/fiberglass through a scratch or knick easily. I know boats left in water = very bad, so I have built a cradle to keep the boat out of the water other than for ~10 weekends per year when I leave it in the water Friday and Saturday night. For whatever reason, one of the hulls has probably 50-100 small sized blisters, the other hull has none (possibly it was replaced..). Last time I checked there were no soft spots or delamination. Although when I was righting the boat I was standing on the hull and I think it could have been a little soft
(i sure hope not, maybe my 170 pounds concentrated on my heels was enough to make the hull walls flex a bit)....
I dont know much about gel coats/top coats but I want to dremel/sand down the blisters to get out any liquid then sand it down and put a new layer of gel coat and paint on. I want to paint the hulls black or yellow, they are white right now and stain too easy, even after only a day of sailing.
Can someone please point me in the right direction? I have no idea where to start. I went to westmarine and their little how-to guide for paint/gelcoat repair made me even more confused. Our cottage is a little rustic so controlling the humidity in the garage might be an issue. Please assume I know nothing more than a child about repairing a hull..
This might be a good project for the October-May Canadian off season.
Thanks very much for your help in advance.
Chris