Martin Schöön wrote:

On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 02:58:19 +0000, Jason wrote:

A while back i asked about if it is okay to put fibreglass below the
waterline of my 28 foot mahogany lapstraked carver mariner.
Overwhelmingly the response was NO.

heres my next question,
Would just using epoxy to coat all wood surfaces of the hull be okay?
or does anyone see anything wrong with it? i need the quickest,
easiest way to make this boat waterproof so i can get a month out of
it this year at least. it has already been sanded down, just waiting
for my next move.


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Use a flexible epoxy paint and not the clear brittle epoxies used for
laminating and repairing etc. That will seal and waterproof but still allow
all kinds of movement of the wood as the uncoated sections expand,
contract, swell, etc. Such epoxies are generally pigmented so you could
paint and be back in the water in 24 hours or so. Come fall paint over the
'epoxy primer' with whatever you like.

I'm just finishing up the restoration of a rotting 1/4 inch plywood dinghy
in this manner - Even with epoxy inside and out, the plywood still has the
flex it originally did (in the non rotted or repaired spots - cleaning the
boat with a modest water blaster literally shot a 5 inch by 5 inch hole in
the bottom and a few smaller holes too!)


paul oman
progressive epoxy polymers


"Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include
a free trip around the Sun every year."
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