[Public-List] Rogers Bottom Job

Fri Mar 18 09:59:57 PDT 2011

Michael,

Couldn't help but notice your reference to "Rogers Bottom Job" which,
knowing you, perhaps has a double meaning if taken literally.  MY bottom job
involves loosing more weight and getting back out on the river in the row
boat (as soon as the current is a little slower than I row because there is
an 8' dam about 400 yards downstream (see Damn Dam Sidebar below).

RE GO148's bottom job, report from rubbers & scrapers is a bunch of gel coat
cracks but hair line only.  I did repair maybe 60 small blisters near the
water line. Could it be there was water under the gel coat that caused
cracks after 8 years drying on the hard?  Knowing the cause would help in
determining appropriate solution; any thoughts?

I talked w/ my paint guy, Tom Fabula at Signature Finish
(http://www.signaturefinish.com/) and he suggested 2 options; paint w/ Fasco
epoxy glue #110 (inexpensive but needs to be finished w/ a trowel which, for
me, probably means lots of sanding & fairing after) or, apply 1 coat of his
3 part epoxy paint after first filling/painting/fairing the cracks (more
expensive than the epoxy glue but less cost and certainly less work than
Interlux 2000E).

He said the job of the barrier coat is to seal out water and, if the
cracks/blisters are properly repaired, one coat is just as good as 3 to 4
coats recommended by Interlux and others.  The Interlux directions give you
a two day application schedule including doing one of several coats at Noon.
Don't know about yuns guys (Pittsburg term), but I drink beer during lunch
(probably also a Pittsburgh thing).  To further fire everybody up, he opined
Interlux paints aren't much better now than they were when they sold the oil
based stuff.

Any way, I will continue my exasperatingly over analytical struggle toward a
solution.  Hope it doesn’t take as long as the toe rail solution took.

Best, Roger 148

Damn Dam Sidebar:

So I have an engineer friend who expressed interest in learning to row.  I
put him in the row boat and followed in the kayak giving constant advice.
We would then have drinks overlooking the river in the cockpit of GO148,
very pleasant.  The third time he came by I was working on the boat and
suggested he was probably tired of having me "advise" him and he was fine
going out on his own.  After we launched the rowboat he said, "Can I go this
way", pointing downstream, the direction of the dam 400 yards away.  I said,
"Sure", not imagining he didn't know the dam was there or, at least, he
wouldn't see the warning signs; I mean, everybody knows about the dam.

Fifteen minutes or so later, I thought to myself, "Self, surely he knows the
dam is there."  I went down to the dock with my binoculars and was relieved
to see him rowing upstream.  We put the boat back on its little cart and,
during drinks in the cockpit, he told me a little story.  Said he was
merrily rowing along (facing backwards, of course) when he thought to
himself, "Self, what's that noise?" and he turned around to see the bow
about 10 feet from the dam.  He is pretty sure no one has ever made a faster
180 in a row boat and, on the way around, he noticed the fisherman in boats
BELOW that damn dam looking at him in a "most peculiar way."  Well, thank
God for large favors and watching over the stupid; me, not my friend (as
John Wayne said, "Life is hard, even harder when you are stupid").  We now
laugh about it and my friend's new nickname at his office and mine is,
"What's That Noise" but, I still thank God for the outcome in my prayers.   

-----Original Message-----
From: public-list-bounces at lists.alberg30.org
[mailto:public-list-bounces at lists.alberg30.org] On Behalf Of
crufone at comcast.net
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2011 9:58 AM
To: Alberg, Public List
Subject: [Public-List] Rogers Bottom Job

Hi Roger, 

Firstly.............would like to apologize if you felt that I came down too
hard on your plan to do the bottom of GO148. 

In the past I have used polyester products to repair blisters and layup
defects and previous collision damage. From what I have learned I would
reconsider and use Epoxy resin based repairs. 

In the past I have ground out all the damaged areas to sound material. Then
wet out and strengthened the rough edges with a saturating coat of resin
only. After that depending on how severe the damage is I would either layup
new glass cloth to build up the lost material, or use a polyester resin with
glass fibres mixed in to fill the loss. Finally I used a polyester patching
compound to do the final fairing. This patching compound is more easily
faired because it contains filler. At this point this is not structural but
cosmetic fairing. West System and Casey have excellent reference materials
on these processes. 

I used Interlux Epoxy barrier coat in enough coats to achieve the required
thickness recommended by the mfg. Since I was going back with an ablative
paint I used black for the first two coats and then red for the final two
coats.  This process allows you to visually detect when the bottom needs the
paint refreshed. As or where the black begins to show through the red, one
needs to reapply the red.  If you keep up with an ablative paint, via,
regular inspection and reapplication only where needed you should never have
to do a complete strip down again. This is the process I use for my salt
water boat. An ablative paint is VERY forgiving to cleaning for
reapplication and partial reapplications. 

For my Alberg in fresh water I plan to use the new Coppercoat epoxy based
bottom paint. Check out www.coppercoatusa.com . #133 currently has Interlux
VC-17 on her bottom. This is a smooth hard paint which must be reapplied
each time she is hauled to keep the biocide active. Unlike an ablative paint
it will build up over the years and eventually need to be completely
stripped of the bottom to begin the process all over again. Jim Edwards at
coppercoat has suggested other barrier coats which he likes better than the
Interlux 2000 series. These products are evolving all the time so it is best
to check what is currently available. Jim Edwards is knowledgeable and I
felt honest about what he would recommend for your particular boat and
sailing environment. 

This is in no way a specific plug for these products; it is just what I used
on my different boats. Roger you will undoubtedly receive as many
recommendations as responses to you request for information. Good luck in
sorting it all out. 

BTW, when is the splash date for Perfect Intentions?  I would enjoy to
witness that if possible, keep us posted. 

Michael #133 
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