[Painting "Blemishes" With AwlGrip]

Gus, the consensus on the 'net seems to be:

First, determine if your boat is finished in Awlgrip, or Awlcraft (the latter is very much like Imron). Then, go to your local Awlgrip agent and obtain a touchup kit, and while you're there, pick up a bottle of Awlgrip (or Awlcraft) solvent/thinner.

To start, first remove any loose flakes of paint then use the solvent to thoroughly clean in and around the scraped or chipped area. Next step, apply a first covering of color, then wait for it to dry then and repeat until the level of paint in the gouge/scrape/chip matches the surrounding area. Afterwords, using very fine grade paper, wet sand the raised excess paint surrounding the gouge until all is as smooth and as level as possible. The last step is to buff the repaired area until it matches the rest of the hull or superstructure.

Thank you Ed

[Which electronics do you prefer?]

I have looked at electronics from 4 perspectives

1. Quality of the information provided

2. Quality of the electronics

3. Price

4. Custtomer service

Furuno I believe is very strong on 1, 2 and 4, but is more costly.

In the end I selected Furuno

[Time to Get Reel Boating into Higher Gear]

Another good forum builder is offering some exclusive posts.

I agree . . . I will give you a series of posts on all of the builds I am doing on Miss Cecile . . . I already have a number of projects on my list and a couple are under way

I understand when one has a techie question they want to gather information from as many sources as possible. But reserving some particiular type posts for RB only will be effective. I'll be doing my part as well.

I agree that techie questions need to be asked at different forums . . . but one day RB should be active enough that we can focus our techie questions here

.

[Where to install a spotlight?]

Auguste,

Mark ( offshore 3144 ) made a mount for his boat that turns and the light is removable. He had someone making them for him and it looked very good, might be an option for you.

I can e-mail him and ask about it for you if would like.

Butch

Thanks for the offer

I chatted with Mark a couple of days ago and he talked about his searchlight mount and he is planning to maybe get another batch made

I like ReelNauti's suggestion of mounting it on the bow to reduce glare . . . but would have to be careful not to get in the way of deploying an anchor

I am wondering if I would see better if it was mounted higher up as the bow is close to the water . . . but preventing glare is important as it would kill my night vision

I then wondered if it would be better if the light was mounted on the top of the flybridge . . . glare is still an issue . . . and the light would be coming from behind me

Just not sure what is the best solution

[Where to install a spotlight?]

Hi

Here is a pic of my boat . . . I am going to install a bow rail and it will be painted white to reduce the glare from lights at night . . . and white fits better with the boat

I want the spotlight to help find buoys at night, and heaven forbid, use during a search for man over board . . . I have 4 very large lights that light up the water's surface to the sides and rear of the boat.

Question: Where should I install the spotlight? Is it better mounted high on the flybridge or lower?

Question: What type of spotlight should I buy? My current thought is to get one that can rotate and be controlled from the bridge?

Question: Is there such a thing as an LED spotlight that is strong enough to do the job?

All help will be greatly appreciated!

[Cleaning and Finishing Teak]

You can't sand the teak?

Yes I could sand away some of the problem, but some of the teak trim is quite thin and I would rather clean those ones if possible

[DSC Well Explained]

Found this presentation which I believe was well done

I hope you find it informative

http://www.boatus.com/foundation/dsc/player.html

,

[DSC Numbers]

i registered thru boat us. pretty easy. ron

Thanks Ron

[DSC Numbers]

Where do I go to get DSC numbers for my VHF radios?

Thanks

[HAPPY NEW YEAR!]

Happy New Years EVERYONE

The feast is tomorrow

[Cleaning and Finishing Teak]

Don't use MEK, it is a very powerful and dangerous solvent. It will melt plastic (including fiberglass),strip paint and take the skin off your fingers and damage your lungs.

There are plenty of good safe teak cleaners. I usually use Star Brite or Amazon products. Restoring old teak is a 3 stage process, you clean it, bleach it and seal it. You can find a kit with all 3 at any marine supply store.

Thanks re the info about the dangers of using MEK

The three part kit sounds like more work but that sounds like the way to go.

[Parrott's Project]

Question: Do I understand correctly, you bought the jig and you used the jig to build your boat?

Question: Did the guys who supplied you the jig also provide you with the positioning for the heavy items like the fuel tanks and engines?

Question: Did the supplier also provide instructions on how many layers of wood are needed, the type and amount of fiberglass etc.?

Looks great. Please keep posting the pics

[Cleaning and Finishing Teak]

For those that have not had experience with methyl ethyl ketone, lets just say don't smoke a cigarette and play with it!

That stuff would clean anything in the world. And about 4 oz. in a 20 oz bottle thrown into a fire put me (240 lbs) on my butt! Good times.

PD

Question: Is there anythingt that you should not try cleaning with methyl ethyl ketone? e.g. fiberglass, carpets etc.

[Cleaning and Finishing Teak]

For those that have not had experience with methyl ethyl ketone, lets just say don't smoke a cigarette and play with it!

That stuff would clean anything in the world. And about 4 oz. in a 20 oz bottle thrown into a fire put me (240 lbs) on my butt! Good times.

PD

Question: Is "methyl ethyl ketone" the generic name? I never heard of the stuff before.

Question: Where would I buy it? In a paint store?

Question: Do I just wash the teak like I was using soap or is there something else I should be doing?

Question: After using methyl ethyl ketone, how long should I wait before applying teak oil?

I am guessing that you would use it in a well ventilated space?

[Cleaning and Finishing Teak]

The interior of my 1963 Bertram has a lot of teak.

There was a minor leak around a window (now repaired) and there are salt streaks on the teak.

There are a few spots where the teak is quite dirty. Probably some engine grime and the rest is just from dirty hands.

Question: What is the best way to remove salt streaks from teak?

Question: What is the best way to remove engine grime and dirt from teak?

Question: What type of teak oil or other product should I use once the teak has been cleaned?

Any help would be truly appreciated

Many thanks

[Painting "Blemishes" With AwlGrip]

My new 1963 Bertram has a few blemishes including some minor scratches and paint chips

The hull and superstructure that I want to repair are all fibreglass and all of the repairs are above the water line. Problems are not structural.

The smallest areas to be painted are the size of a screw head, and the largest are about 1 inch by 4 inches

The boat was painted using AwlGrip and I have the name of the colour that was used

I know how to do the repairs. It is the painting part I need help with.

Question: If I do the touch-up with a brush will I get a smooth finish?

Question: Can I do the touch-up with an airbrush? If yes what size tip do I need?

Question: Any suggestions or other stuff I need to know?

Thanks in advance

[Time to Get Reel Boating into Higher Gear]

Hi Guys and Gals

It is time to help Wiley move Reel Boating into a higher gear

Wiley has built a great platform and it is now time to get the boating and fishing questions and suggestions going . . . I think we need to get this site super busy . . . I think that is one of the keys to Reel Boating's success

I want this site to be busy because that is how I can learn more about fishing and boating and safety and techniques

Also, in about 2 weeks I will be on my new boat and I have a dozen projects that I want to do on my 1963 Bertram 38 ft sport fisher

For my part I will do my best to start three new threads per week on boating and fishing and projects the reason I visit this site.

What are you going to do to get this site moving?

Thanks for the platform Wiley . . . now it is up to us to help

[The Paper Shredder]

Absolutely Fantastic

[SO, WHAT DID YOU GET?]

Just got the electronics fully installed . . . NN3 from Furuno . . . just tidying up the installation and then will have a ton of pics and stories to post in January

Wife just paid for a FLIR and a SPOT which will be installed in late January or early February

She is also replacing my Nikon SLR which got trashed during the move from NJ south

Mrs Claus was very good this year

[12/18/09 monsoon]

Sorry to hear that. Almost every heavy rainstorm will put a few vessels on the bottom. What caused the problem? Did you have hull insurance that covered the salvage op?

Yeah, Luddi...tahnk God i have ins. $2800 to lift and pump, $350 to tow to marina for survey...at 11:30PM boat was ok, pumps pumping their guts out...1 or both must have died overnight, we had 18" of rain...at 7:30 AM looked outside...not so good...starboard gunnel 15" under, put in emerg pump, called tow/boat and ins. co. pumps were just circulatiing the water till the air bags lifted...starboard eng under for over an hour, ALL elect runs go along starboard side!!!!

hoping for a total out because elect probs will ever end after being drowned...

Sounds like you will have to rewire the entire boat . . . that totally sucks

Good luck in coming to a good solution with the insurance company

[Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year]

Merry Christmas

[Parrott's Project]

Great project . . . proud of you guys for taking on the project

[How about an online boat registry -project -modification area?]

I think you have a good idea

Maybe you might want to test the concept with a bunch of members in one area, e.g. Boat House

[Update on Miss Cecile]

Is the boat in Virginia Beach now ?

Hi . . . yes the boat is in Virginia beach docked behind dale's home.

and I guess it will be there for a while longer

The weather forecast for the next few days reads as follows

Fri Night

NE winds 20 to 25 kt...becoming E 25 to 30 kt after midnight. Seas 4 to 6 ft...building to 8 to 11 ft after midnight. Rain.

Sat

NE winds 25 to 30 kt...becoming N 20 to 25 kt in the afternoon. Seas 9 to 12 ft. Rain likely...mainly in the morning.

Sat Night

NW winds 25 to 30 kt. Seas 8 to 11 ft. A chance of rain. A chance of snow after midnight.

Sun

NW winds 20 to 25 kt. Seas 5 to 8 ft.

Mon

NW winds 15 to 20 kt. Seas 5 to 7 ft.

[When are there too many lights above the waterline]