WOW ! Painting the Bilges is a Lot of Work

[sww914]

We're partway through our refit if you want to call it that, I just see it as fixing all the broken stuff. The previous owner hadn't used the boat for quite some time so there are a lot of maintenance issues as well. Dried out leaky teak decks, dry rot in the house, corroded wires and rotten halyards. Since we had to pull the dead Perkins 4.107 out to replace it with a newer 4.108 we decided to paint all of the bilges. There was 1 1/2" of grease and dirt in the bottom of some of the bilges that we had to scrape and scrub out but they look great now. We used Interlux Bligekote. That is a top quality product and it's not expensive, under $60.00 a gallon at Svendsen's Marine in Alameda. The stuff covered beautifully with one coat, dried fast, and seemed to actually enjoy meeting up with the little bits of oil stuck in the corners instead of freaking out.
I really want to rip out every single old wire and hose that you can see in the pictures and replace them with shiny & new but I want to sail this boat soon so we are leaving alone the things that work.

[daddle]

Sweet!

[David M]

What a nice difference.

[James S]

Its time and money well spent, nothing like the feeling of having mucked out these deep and mysterious places.....well done!

[zeehag]

very purrrrty--come do mine next, ok???? mazatlan is worth the travel and work..LOL--i promise i will buy a fan to keep ye cooled off........bubba will give ye lots of furZ......

[SaltyMonkey]

sww914 - you're an inspiration. So many boaters don't care or realize how important a clean bilge is to the general operation of ALL equipment on the boat, not only to speak of health conditions of the crew. So, they leave them to rot. Thanks for teaching and reminding me on the process and importance.

[Charlie]

Anyone ever paint the bilge with the engine in Place? I have pretty good access and am thinking of doing that.

[SaltyMonkey]

Charlie: Tried but couldn't get around everywhere I needed to. I had a small space. I suppose depends on your engine, it's mounting and if you can reach all the nooks easily, and how much you care about your knuckles. The cleaning is damn hard work.

[zeehag]

if i werent so busy sailing and repairing stuff i need to repair , i might find time to paint mine-- but , until then.......... black is beeeyoooteeefullll!

[Butler]

Congrats! Wow,just beautiful
Done it myself and it was very much worth it. Says a lot about the owner and adds to confidence in the boat and skipper.

[Capt Phil]

The last couple of boats I owned (Transpac 49, DeFever 54) were in need of similar attention. It is a big job but pays great dividends both in pride of ownership and impact on resale value. Ask any broker, if the bilges are clean and sweet, it increases the value and how quickily the boat will sell. Because it is a big job, hard to get in to all the nooks and crannies and not noticed by anyone but the owner, the task may be put off. Experienced folks looking at boats will check the bilges and if they are clean and freshly painted, it tells the buyer that here is an owner who is meticulous in maintaining his/her vessel. You can be fairly certain that the rest of the boat is in great nick.
In reply to Charlie, yes, I've done it and it isn't easy but well worth the effort. I masked the entire pan of the engines and was careful to keep the paint where it belongs. Capt Phil

[brutb]

GREAT jOB, you can be sure every boat owner worth his salt will be looking at their bilges and saying "I really need to get this done". Thanks.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Now you will discover that dust never sleeps...........

[sww914]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! I've been called many things and for good reason but an inspiration hasn't often been among them.
Zeehag, you might regret that invitation. We'll be in the same sea as you after hurricane season and while I won't do it for you, I'll help you. Unfortunately I'm a better supervisor than a worker. I'm a really good cigar smoker too.

[felixqld66]

Wow the bilges look fantastic now.....fortunately mine had been refitted for charter in 2005 ( the boat was gutted and rebuilt) and it only did 9 days in charter. My bilges look pretty sweet but not that fresh


If you are not going to replace the working stuff at least remember to get some split loom for the wiring and retrofit it to tidy it up have spent the last week tidying up the wiring on mine as some was good some was shoddy

Will be great to see your boat back in the water!

Cheers Alex