Teak removal Aft Deck

Difficult to extend pot life of epoxy in high heat and humidity. Work like a whirling dervish. (or work at night) Have plenty of extra supplies on hand including resin, nitrile gloves, mixing cups, tongue depressors, etc,

Loosen water fill and other deck fittings before you start. The fill tube has probably been connected to the rubber fill hose for 40 years. Might not move easily with rusty clamps. It might be easier to replace the hoses.

Boatworks Today has good YouTube videos although he uses polyester resin.

I'm beat....[emoji3061]
Long day working on the deck.
Got most of the prep done though.
I had two dock neighbors that unexpectedly joined in to help. Love those guys! Lifesavers!
Tried a hand held electric planer, Belt sander, and a large floor sander. The floor sander was the ticket. It ground down the remaining scrap wood and old resin like a charm. Also gave a good clean surface. The hand held electric planer was ok but loud and slower. The Belt sander was ok too but didn't sand very evenly like they tend to do.
I discovered that the mystery port is for the emergency tiller. Good call! If you lift up our bed in the stateroom bellow there is a square fitting on our rudder that lines up. You would need to punch through the headliner but I guess if you needed it, the headliner is the least of your worries.
I filled any empty screw holes with epoxy. I used a syringe and it worked well. It will be a couple weeks until I can lay the new glass so I wanted to keep the water out in the meantime.
Love the Boat works Today videos. I will try cutting the pieces and numbering ahead of time like he did.

Hitting the pool with a cold [emoji481]!



A

Looks great. But I still recommend getting all the fittings off the deck you are doing so they won’t leak when you are done.

Sounds like you make some great progress! Boat works today is excellent. He’s really good and does a great job of explaining things.

Ken

I'm going to respectfully disagree w.r.t. epoxy and mat, at least in part.

It is true that the binder doesn't dissolve in epoxy as it does in other resins. But, there is relatively little binder and the epoxy does hold it in suspension and eventually in the film. The epoxy can wet out the mat just fine. And, when properly wetted out, there isn't a problem with adhesion. If something failed, my guess would be some type of surface contamination, failure to degloss, air bubble, or saturation problem, etc.

Where it does matter is that, without the binder dissolved the matt stays more sheet like. This might make it more workable in some cases, but more often it makes it harder to get it into nooks and cranies, around sharp edges and small bends, etc. So, if one is doing things other than relatively flat sheets or gentle bends, other resins may be better and prevent the glass from having a mind of its own and fighting you.

If epoxy adheres better to the substrate, and the matt stiffness isn't a concern, all other things being equal, epoxy may be the best choice, even with matt.

Of course, other resins are cheaper, may adhere to the substrate just as well, and will break down the binder making the matt much, much more workable

Just my 2 cents...

https://epoxylink.com/
Great source for epoxy. Most confusing crazy website ever. His stuff is awesome, and no blush or bubbles.

Interesting thread. 1708 stitchmat is my go-to material of choice. Super strong and quick layup. Bi-axial takes bends and complex shapes really well. Also doesn't fall apart when cut. Can be used with polyester, vinylester and epoxy resins. Laminates to about 1/16" per layer.


Epoxy can be used with chopped mat but doesn't allow the mat to achieve its best properties.


My choice for your project would have been polyester resin except for the fact that holes have been filled with epoxy. Never use poly over epoxy. If you can acquire vinylester you would have the best of both. Less toxic than traditional epoxy, almost the same adhesion and water imperviousness, more economical than epoxy but compatible with both other resins.
Best cleanup for epoxy - white vinegar followed by soap and water.


I would like to post about the newer plant based epoxies but have no experience with them.

U.S. Composites out of Florida sells epoxy at about half the cost of West System, the 635 is almost as good as West.

Probably used 30 gallons of the stuff restoring mine.

17, 18 oz cloth 1 layer is fine, I like to pour out the epoxy, lay the cloth, and use a finned roller. The less you mess with it, the fewer blisters.

Work at night, in the sun epoxy can exotherm to the point it will self ignite.

Lots of good advice here! Have fun, and please wear a respirator and do not clean epoxy off your skin with a solvent, ever. Let it dry.

SeaMoose said:

U.S. Composites out of Florida sells epoxy at about half the cost of West System, the 635 is almost as good as West.

Probably used 30 gallons of the stuff restoring mine.

17, 18 oz cloth 1 layer is fine, I like to pour out the epoxy, lay the cloth, and use a finned roller. The less you mess with it, the fewer blisters.

Work at night, in the sun epoxy can exotherm to the point it will self ignite.

Lots of good advice here! Have fun, and please wear a respirator and do not clean epoxy off your skin with a solvent, ever. Let it dry.

Click to expand...

Better yet, don’t get the epoxy on your skin to begin with.

Andy G said:

As an IG enthusiast I feel duty bound to point out that the Island Gypsy's of that era are not from Taiwanese boat yards , they were built in Hong Kong under the Kong & Halvorsen name.

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Andy, I picked up this comment in your recent post having to do with teak. I am always watching for fellow-IG owners. Haven't found many, but nice to see your comment.

We have a 32' 1994 and have for 6 seasons. Her home is on Lake Michigan in the US. She has 3400 hrs on a single FL135. She was not well cared for by previous owners so I've rebuild all the windows and am constantly chasing leaks. I think the teak decks are in pretty good shape, though there are 2 almost-soft spots which I watch carefully.

Do know when the last IG's were produced and where?

George Lambrides (gbrides@umich.edu)

Update...
I bought the fiberglass supplies. Epoxy & 1708. The 1708 is pretty thick stuff. I got slow cure epoxy but its still too hot here in Florida to do it during the day. I laid out most of the deck in small sections and cut/numbered the pieces. I may try laying up some at night to see how it goes.

I don’t remember if this was said before but keep the mixed epoxy on ice, it will slow it down so it won’t cure as fast.

UPDATE..

Got the 1708 & Epoxy down.
Faired everything.
Sanded and Acetone a million times
Used Interlux perfection w Primekote primer and glass beads non skid sprinkled in.
I cut Starboard pieces for around the fittings.

TrawlerTribe said:

UPDATE..

Got the 1708 & Epoxy down.
Faired everything.
Sanded and Acetone a million times
Used Interlux perfection w Primekote primer and glass beads non skid sprinkled in.
I cut Starboard pieces for around the fittings.

Click to expand...

Nice looking job. No more leaks!

Looks very nice. Bet you are glad it is almost done.

Nice job!! You're gonna smile everytime you see that deck!!!