New to us 2005 26M

[Piddle and Futz]

Well, after a little work and a few delays, our arrived today.

First time we actually saw it. (Bought it online at auction.)


It's going to take a bit of work to get back on the water (for starters: all new running rigging and sails), but the bones look good and we budgeted for that.

Will send more photos soon along with 1000 or so questions

[NiceAft]

Your journey begins. You have a willing and able support crew here.

No one person has all of the answers, but there are plenty of Mac owners here, so somebody might have the answer.

Welcome.

[OverEasy]

Wow!
Now all the fun stuff begins!
The biggest gains are where you do that initial cleaning and get back to the basic boat.
Seeing the change can be down right therapeutic!

It somehow changes as the elbow grease is applied and the metamorphosis can kind of catch you unawares! What was initially something you might not want to touch with rubber gloves changes as it cleans up into something that you embrace when all the cleaning is done.

Best of Luck!
Over Easy

[Tomfoolery]

It's off to a good start. Rudders, mast, trailer, and presumably centerboard are in place. Assuming the outboard is in decent shape, the rest is colored bubbles.

[Piddle and Futz]

Sharing a few more photos I was able to snap yesterday. Would appreciate comments if you spot something interesting.




From what I can tell, the boat seems little used but heavily weathered. Interior is shiny with little signs of use; cushions good. Exterior is heavily oxidized with sails and lines deteriorated; moss and generations of wasp nests. I have the original dealer options list and it appears nothing else has been added. Standing rigging and hardware all looks to be in great shape. Will see if I can pull hours off the motor. All signs are that it has been sitting out in the weather on the trailer for 15+ years. The worn band at waterline on the anti-fouling paint makes me think it was kept in the water for a while. Motor zincs are pitted but still present.

Hoping it will clean up well.

Identified issues:

• Rotten sails and running rigging

• Standing water in battery box and many compartments (no bilge pump installed)

• Winches rough (port one does not ratchet)

• Fuel lines and primer kinked and hardened

• Damage to outboard plastics

[Piddle and Futz]

Could use some help identifying where this long carpeted piece belongs.

[Piddle and Futz]

Also advice on how to best reattach trim plastic to window borders and galley table.

I'm thinking a hot glue gun would do the trick, but --honestly-- I'm not crazy about how the window frames look. Have others removed them?

[Russ]

Identified issues:

• Rotten sails and running rigging

• Standing water in battery box and many compartments (no bilge pump installed)

• Winches rough (port one does not ratchet)

• Fuel lines and primer kinked and hardened

• Damage to outboard plastics

It will clean up well. Power wash and some soap and it will look like new.
3M Fiberglass restorer and wax with a lambs wool pad and buffer will make it look brand new.

Bottom paint? Probably just sand and repaint.

The batteries say "Cranking" which these outboards don't need. They can be started with a motorcycle battery.
I would replace them with 2 deep cycle batteries (what I have).

I've never used the winches.

Replace the fuel line. Not expensive.

Long carpeted piece is the panel in the back of the aft berth. It hides the steering stuffs behind it.

[Piddle and Futz]

Could use some advice on the bottom paint. This was factory (or dealer) installed and probably not touched since 2005. Looks like there is a good layer of epoxy with the anti-foul on top. Surface feels rough. A few bare patches but no gouges.


Our intent is to keep the boat trailered at our home and put it in the water only when in actual use (mostly weekend trips), so we really don't have need of the anti-fouling layer.

I'd hate to sand it all off (lots of work + loss of function + environmental impact) but would like to have a slick and consistent bottom. At this point I'm thinking cleaning it real well, sanding to rough it up, and putting on another coat of the same.

[Piddle and Futz]

Thanks so much @Russ

[Russ]

Could use some advice on the bottom paint. This was factory (or dealer) installed and probably not touched since 2005. Looks like there is a good layer of epoxy with the anti-foul on top. Surface feels rough. A few bare patches but no gouges.


Our intent is to keep the boat trailered at our home and put it in the water only when in actual use (mostly weekend trips), so we really don't have need of the anti-fouling layer.

I'd hate to sand it all off (lots of work + loss of function + environmental impact) but would like to have a slick and consistent bottom. At this point I'm thinking cleaning it real well, sanding to rough it up, and putting on another coat of the same.

Factory never painted bottoms. Dealer or PO did that.

My boat has a bare bottom. No paint. Nothing. Fresh water use only. It gets slimy and I power wash at the end of the season.

If you don't need antifouling, maybe just leave it for now. Sand and new coat would make it look nice. But that's a lot of work paint is expensive so budget for that if you go that route.

Keep us posted with your progress. It's always fun to see new life breathed into a boat.

Oh, and congrats on the boat and welcome to the forum.

[NiceAft]

I agree with everything Russ has posted, except one. I believe a barrier coat is essential to protect your hull from blisters.

On my 2005 I haven’t applied a bottom paint, but I did apply a barrier coat. It has been there on the hull for sixteen years seems to still be working.

The boat is now only wet for two weeks a year when we use it for a two week vacation, and I have never beached it.

On a different note, your cabin looks clean. Those strips around the wood trim, maybe tiny tacking nails could be a temporary solution. I would try it if I had the problem, but I don’t.

Recently there were several post addressing that particular problem. I don’t know if any of the suggestions were about actual results, or just theory.

[dlandersson]

Ok, there may be some confusion re: "bottom paint" and "barrier coat"

Bottom paint protects the hull from osmosis/water.

Barrier paint protects the hull from marine growth.

I highly recommend bottom paint 2+ coats, then barrier paint. Honestly, each coat takes 30 minutes, then 2-4 hours drying time. I did 4. Alternate the bottom paint colors so you can easily see what you've done and what needs to be done.

[NiceAft]

https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/ ... rier-Coats

https://www.totalboat.com/2017/04/28/vi ... rier-coat/

I believe you have it backwards.

[OverEasy]

Hi!

It looks like you have what’s left of an ablative bottom paint. Ablative starts out rough. It is supposed to wear away and shed the marine growth.

Often times owner or dealer applied ablative bottom paint was/is done without proper surface preparation or primer.


If you are only going to have limited on water exposure and primarily be on clean fresh water then after a through removal of the existing bottom paint followed by a good through epoxy primer layer followed by a good through epoxy top coat will provide a nice smooth bottom surface that you can clean with a gentle pressure wash for years.

The bottom anti fouling ablative paint that came on Over Easy when we purchased her was vintage (something like a decade and a half ago). We chose to give it a try and see what happens.

After four months in a SC estuary slip had a fairly solid couple of inches of marine growth. Yuck!
And that was with our going out motoring 3-to-4 days a week.

We had Over Easy hauled out in July and had the bottom “abrasive wet blasted” to clean off the marine growth and old ablative coating. Sure enough the residual ablative had actually sort of did it’s job inhibiting marine growth from adhering to the hull but also shed the ablative in sheets because there wasn’t an underlying primer. Kind of a mixed bag….

So given we are both salt water and fresh water use we decided to properly prepare our hull with the professional abrasive wet blasting to clean off all the old materials back to the gelcoat. Then we had two coats of epoxy primer applied followed by two coats of ablative barrier bottom coating. (Note: A hard barrier coating like a copper based doesn’t allow one to pull it in/out of the water and still have it function as these hard coating will oxidize in air which requires sanding to be reactivated just prior to relaunching).

Ablative coatings don’t have that limitation and can go in/out of either fresh/salt/both waters.

An epoxy paint bottom will not inhibit saltwater marine growth. Saltwater Marine growth can actually etch into a fiberglass and allow moisture into the structure leading to blistering.

Hope this helps some.

Best Regards,
Over Easy