Well I was wrong, the project non-skid / gelcoat repair project hit a speed bump yesterday and they are not ready to begin masking off the deck to begin the refinish process. The hold-up was the cockpit sole. Here it is again:

It turns out that when the original owner installed the carpeting in the cockpit, they used some adhesive that was nearly impossible to remove. The tan colored residue you see above was relatively easy to get out with liberal washing down with acetone and a lot of scrubbing. The dark grey streaks were a different compound and the acetone barely touched it. Vigorous scraping finally got it off, but the whole process took an entire afternoon. The sole now looks like this:

The glass man ran out of time yesterday and today he's coming back to sand the non-skid down to what will be its new surface in preperation for the re-coat. We'll follow-up after the weekend because it looks like they are going to need some extra time on this before any new surfaces are applied.

The fiberglass man finished prepping the 1977 Silverton yesterday so that he can now begin the process of getting ready for new non-skid surfacing on deck. He's still sanding away in the photo below:

 When all is said and done, the 36 grit did a great job here, but some interesting things did show up that were not really a surprise, and that you should understand.

In a few places all of the original gel coat did get sanded through. This is common when doing a job like this, especially at corner edges. This is because when boats are built and the gel-coat is being sprayed into the mold, the thickness of the gel-coat is often a bit thinner at corners than the flat surfaces. The dark spots in the photo below show some of the sanded through spots. Also, what you see as some light brown areas are just some of the left over non-skid material. It's been sanded thoroughly, so a new coating will adhere right over this new surface.

These thin spots that are now showing glass through will disappear as long as the thickness of the new coating is adequate.

Today, the detail of proper masking off should follow. We'll get a look at that tomorrow.

Over the next few days I'm going to be following the complete replacement of the non-skid surface and gel-coat dings on a 1977 Silverton sportfish that a friend of mine is restoring. Some photos of the boat as it stands right now are here:

You can see from the above two photos that the non-skid surface has worn right through in some spots and is all worn and irreparably dirty.

In the cockpit shown below, you can see the remains of the glue that was used to hold a carpet that was added by the original owner to the cockpit sole. All that is going to be removed and the cockpit will end up with a newly coated surface.

The process begins with a combination of hand and power sanding the old usrfaces to remove all of the old non-skid and glue. Here we see the glass man removing the old non-skid from the forward deck.

The trick here is to sand down to the surface of the original gel-coat and no further, without making any gouges that bring things down to the raw fiberglass surface. What grit sandpaper to use? 36 grit will do nicely here but it does depend on the courseness of the non-skid surface to begin with. This is followed up with hand sanding with 80 grit to get to the original surface.

I'll follow up tomorrow after I get to inspect the prep-work being done today. This should be an interesting project. So stay tuned.

Something I had forgotten about over the years is the limitation found on inland lakes and waterways that exists in some locations. Specifically I'm talking about either horsepower limits or in some cases restrictions on the use of internal combustion engines at all.

Well it seems one boat manufacturer has found the obvious answer. Godfrey Pontoon Boats is one of the premiere manufacturers of pontoon boats here in the US and they are now offering a super option, Torqeedo 4.0 electric outboards to power their pontoons. The press release is here:

TORQEEDO MOTORS ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON GODFREY PONTOONS

As more lakes are designated green with gas and diesel engines prohibited, boaters want and require an environmentally-friendly form of propulsion.  Helping its customers select the best in electric power, boat manufacturer Nautic Global Group now offers Torqeedo's Cruise 4.0 R electric outboard as optional equipment across all of its Godfrey Pontoon Boat lines.

"Many of our dealers sell boats onto lakes that have horsepower or gas-powered engine constraints," said Steve Tadd, marketing director for Godfrey.  "Torqeedo is a good partner to team up with and gives our customers a great option in clean, powerful propulsion."

Revolutionizing the standards for electric power, the Cruise 4.0 R offers boaters more drive and range than ever before.  With thrust equivalent to a 9.9 hp gas outboard, it achieves an efficiency of more than 50%.  It operates on 48V lead-gel, AGM battery bank or two high-performance lithium manganese batteries from Torqeedo's Power series.

"Godfrey and our whole network of dealers are impressed with the motors' battery consumption feedback and the outboards' performance and capabilities," said Tadd.  "We will put a Torqeedo on any pontoon we build, but they seem to be most popular on our Sweetwater models."

After building the industry's first ever all-aluminum pontoon boat in 1958, Godfrey has remained a leader in innovation and quality.  Having built more pontoon boats than any other company and having received more than 20 industry CSI awards, also more than any other builder in the world, Godfrey Pontoon Boats are synonymous with customer satisfaction and excellence.

        Torqeedo is a leading manufacturer of high-tech, electric outboards, offering a range of horsepower options to power a variety of vessels, including pontoons, dinghies and kayaks.  The company's electric motors are lightweight, incredibly efficient and environmentally-friendly.

Contact Torqeedo Inc., 171 Erick Street Unit A-1, Crystal Lake, IL 60014.  815-444-8806; Fax: 815-444-8807.  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ;  www.torqeedo.com.

The installation looks like this:

Stay tuned here as I hope do be doing some testing on these motors later this summer, they are really catching on and so far I haven't heard a bad word about them, which is impressive.

Parker Energy Systems has just introduced a handy device that although intended to be used to control their fuel polishing systems, offers boaters additional functionality whether you have a fuel polishing system or not. The device is a programable timer control that can be used for a variety of on board DC systems. Things like fans and cabin lights can be set to come on and off automatically based on your own needs. A nice idea and reasonably priced at $239. The timer is shown here:

Parker's press release says it all. Great idea Parker!

VERSATILE TIMER CONTROLS A VARIETY OF ELECTRICAL FUNCTIONS

        Scheduling fuel maintenance with Parker Energy Systems' FPM-050 Fuel Polishing Module is simple with the FPM-PTC-12 Programmable Timer/Control.  Incredibly versatile, this unit can also be used to control other devices installed in the onboard DC electrical system.

The FPM-PTC-12 works with any 12V DC appliance that draws up to 12A.  Intuitive to use, its push buttons and straightforward display prompts make programming quick and easy.

It's great for controlling anchor and interior lights.  Owners never have to worry about leaving them on all day and draining the battery.  It can turn lights on for added safety when reboarding from a tender at night.

        To keep inside air fresh, the Timer can be used to control the ventilation system, automatically circulating stale air out.  Owners can also save power by programming fans to turn off during the night as the boat or rig cools down.

        The FPM-PTC-12 is highly customizable and offers the capability of 56 weekly switching schedules and up to eight distinct cycles per day.  A manual override feature eliminates the need for an additional helm switch.  Surface or flush-mountable, the Timer/Controller's splash-proof enclosure is available in a black anodized or stylish brass finish.

        Parker Energy Systems' FPM-PTC-12 Timer/Controller costs $239.

Contact Parker Energy Systems, Parker Hannifin Corp., 95 Edgewood Ave., New Britain, CT  06051.  Toll-free 877-217-4501; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; 

To find out more about this handy device, go to www.parkerfuelpolishing.com