What Should I Do With This Mess ?

[minaret]

I would guess that fairing and painting would be by far the most time extensive process. Think of all the masking, the dust, sanding up to all the hardware and edges by hand, the stink involved in both the fairing and painting. You definitely wouldn't want to do it while living aboard. On the other hand the other methods suggested here would involve almost no dust and be much quicker to do IMHO. I suggest the tongue and groove, could be done very quickly especially if you have or can rent a chop saw and put it on deck for a few days. I'd do that and add a nice trim ring around each porthole. You can also get nice ply that looks like tongue and groove, get a couple of sheets of that, make a pattern out of doorskin battens for each piece, cut them out and fasten in place. Then a little trim and you're done. The trim would take the longest but could be done at your leisure with no power tools and minimal mess.

[Tempest245]

I might look into this minicell foam as an underlayment, it comes in colors and as thin as 1/4" Welcome to Foam Factory
They use it in Kayaks..

Vinyl directly over the fibreglass will show all the imperfections unless you fair it out 1st..which is going to be tough while living aboard.

[unbusted67]

Originally Posted by minaret

I would guess that fairing and painting would be by far the most time extensive process. Think of all the masking, the dust, sanding up to all the hardware and edges by hand, the stink involved in both the fairing and painting. You definitely wouldn't want to do it while living aboard. On the other hand the other methods suggested here would involve almost no dust and be much quicker to do IMHO. I suggest the tongue and groove, could be done very quickly especially if you have or can rent a chop saw and put it on deck for a few days. I'd do that and add a nice trim ring around each porthole. You can also get nice ply that looks like tongue and groove, get a couple of sheets of that, make a pattern out of doorskin battens for each piece, cut them out and fasten in place. Then a little trim and you're done. The trim would take the longest but could be done at your leisure with no power tools and minimal mess.

What is this Doorskin of which you speak? How would I make a trim ring for those windows, is there something I could buy that would form to them?

[minaret]

Originally Posted by unbusted67

What is this Doorskin of which you speak? How would I make a trim ring for those windows, is there something I could buy that would form to them?

Doorskin is 1/8" ply used to skin doors. It is the standard material for patterning battens in many industries. Buy one sheet and rip it into 1 1/2" strips on a tablesaw and you'll have pattern stock for your next few fitting projects. One of it's advantages is you can cut it with a carpet knife. Use hot glue to join the corners and add a few diagonal braces to the pattern to make it stiff and dimensionally stable. The cheap stuff is about $10 a sheet. You can use it to fit any sheet material from bulkheads to hatch lexan. With practice it provides a dead fit the first time every time. The trim ring could be a matter of personal taste. I'd make mine out of mahogany or whatever matches the rest of the boat. Some joinery would be required for nice trim. Alternatively you could just fit the ply up tight to the porthole and live with it sticking out a bit further than the porthole ring, it doesnt look like 1/4" would stick out much. I'd consider making them fit nice and tight and then fastening them in in such a fashion that they are easy to remove, so you can clean behind them to prevent mildew, or replace a porthole if needed without too much effort. Alternatively, if you fasten them more permanently, I would consider bedding them in with a notched trowel across the backside, so you don't have any space for air between the ply and fiberglass for condensation to occure and moisture to accumulate.

[HappySeagull]

Carpet...not shag though ..and contact cement-use the real acetone- based stuff,not the waterbased but maybe there's better water-based stuff than I tried available nowadays.Carpet is washable,insulative(no condensation) and can be attractive and cheap, as scraps.Handy too ,because velcro sticks to many kinds,so you can hang velcro-backed things on it....

Or,seriously check out the fancy textured paints available now for house interiors.Acrylic based or oil based should stick well,unless that is epoxy paint on there already.A lot of things don't stick to epoxies,longterm.
Test whatever you try.There's also something called microballoons(?google em) that you can add to any paint and it'll insulate a bit too.

PS some doorskins and many veneers delaminate in dampness.They stain easily too,if water gets into an edge

[colemj]

Originally Posted by minaret

Doorskin is 1/8" ply used to skin doors.

Then maybe I have my terminology wrong. I was pointing him toward very thin veneer - 1/32" at most. You can get nice exotics this way - teak, etc, and they come in a roll, like paper charts and are meant to be a finished surface. I have always known this material as "doorskin" because you would use it to cover an old existing door.

Anyway, I did not mean for him to use 1/8" material.

Mark

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by atoll

easiest to do is with imitation leather vinyl,using contact adhesive.
make a template first with stiff card.

alternatively glue thin battons on with 5200 and using 6mm ply wood add a facia

4mm cork in sheets 1m is also easy to use,and can be stained and varnished after

- Cheap, Quick and Easy is a quick rub down, a coat of decent primer and some white paint.......and then mull over doing a better looking solution next year. or so .

- Cheap and easy (ish!) is foam backed vinyl - and maybe a touch of filler on the more rough parts....probably won't look 100%, but IMO pretty much anything better than yellow paint!

- My ideal solution would be thin battens and a facia (Varnished veneer, not just varnished Ply) - tricky to cut and the PITA will be those ports - probably have to come up with wooden surrounds, but those would also cover any (?!) imperfections.

Have fun

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

- Cheap, Quick and Easy is a quick rub down, a coat of decent primer and some white paint.......and then mull over doing a better looking solution next year. or so .

- Cheap and easy (ish!) is foam backed vinyl - and maybe a touch of filler on the more rough parts....probably won't look 100%, but IMO pretty much anything better than yellow paint!

Yep, that would be my approach too, especially if the windows are leaking. Paint it now just to cheer the place up if you are living aboard. Then wait until the late Spring and do the windows plus cover in vinyl or soft carpet of your choice. Your have a series of compound curves to cover, material will be easier to do this neatly.

I wouldn't sand the GRP prior to painting because the mess it makes, but I would clean it down with sugar soap to remove any grease or smoke stains first.

Pete

[daddle]

Paint it bright white and get on with life. Liners and sheets of crap have no place on a serious sailboat. Yellow is the worst possible color for anything you have to live in or on.

[wunderluster]

I just completed a similiar project on my 28 year old boat. It had carpet that was old and dirty and coming off in some areas. I pulled it all off and found areas with gelcoat, unfinished fiberglass, and lots of glue. I stripped the glue then sanded for about three days. I filled the worst areas with bondo, then faired with a fairing compound. I painted a coat of Glidden porch and deck enamel. The surface wasn't faired smoothly enough for the gloss paint to cover the uneven areas. So, I added sanded texure to the paint and applied two more coats. It looks great. And, I can change color anytime if I decide to.

You would have a lot of filling and fairing to do on yours but that isn't difficult to do.

David

[Opie91]

Check this stuff out:

HullBlanket Headliner Hull Liner Carpet Type - Conforms to Shapes

I put it in my boat 15 years ago and it looks great. Diluted bleach will clean it up quite nicely if any mold gets into it.

You will have to smooth out the rough spots on you boat a littte, but not too much.



Sorry only pic I have with headliner.

[barnakiel]

You can cover the area with fine template cut out of plywood. The sunk areas will need small fairing blocks and elsewhere you can use 3M hook on hook velcro.

You can use a soft liner but then you will want to fair the sunk in areas before.

b.

[freefly]

You could always try rolling on high build primer four or five coats at a time (obviously waiting for each coat to tack off) then wait till fully dry and then flat with a block, when you get to the point of burning through, stop and recoat with four or five coats and repeat the process till they are flat..
Then paint with the color of your choice to finish.
Will be much easier on the arms and stress level and in the end should look ok...
Just a thought..

[forsailbyowner]

Nautolex hull liners come to mind, was used on many production boats. Heres a perforated style
NAUTOLEX MARINE PERFORATED HEADLINING - A-1 Foam & Fabrics

They used to make vinyl hull liner but in a weave pattern its something like this, but this is sold as flooring, May work well though.

Nautolex DECKO DOT Marine Outdoor VINYL Non-Skid Flooring and Adhesive - CSC TEXTILES (610) 767-7555 Serving USA and Canada online

[bene505]

Another (3rd) vote for foam-backed vinyl. It hides the underlying texture and you get a vinyl look. I suggest white. It would be very easy to apply.

Regards,
Brad