1963 Cruisers, Inc. 302 Commander

[Berta'sBeauty]

Hello Everyone!

This is my first post as a new member of the forum.

My husband and I recently bought a beauty... Berta's Beauty! Our first woody!
Visit my photo gallery: http://gallery.me.com/robertabolt#100104

Because we are completely new to the care of a wooden boat we have many questions about our new treasure, but first and foremost we need guidance with varnishing and painting. It is in really good condition but needs some sprucing up. Questions:

1. Can we power wash the inside boards and ribs instead of sanding it all? The person we bought the boat from said that is what he did.

2. What is a good varnish to use on the inside boards? Is it a different type than what would be used on the mahogany pieces.

3. Can we use fine grade steel wool on the varnished pieces then apply a few fresh coats of varnish or should we use sand paper?

4. What is a good varnish? One that will not flake easily? The varnish on the boat now flakes off pretty easily after getting wet.

3. What should be used in the bilge?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I have many more questions but will start with these...

Thank you. I look forward to reading your responses.

[LancerBoy]

Welcome aboard! Nice looking boat.

1. Power washing is OK. But use very low pressure and be very, very careful. Use a gentle touch.

2. Use any good quality marine spar varnish. Many brands are fine such as Interlux and Epiphanes. You may use the same varnish for the ceiling and bilge as you use for seats and transom, etc... Do NOT use polyurethane.

3. NEVER use steel wool in a boat situation. No matter how well you clean after using it, some remnants will remain behind. They'll get stuck in the varnish and paint and rust. If you want to use wool, use bronze wool. Sandpaper is a much better choice however.

4. If varnish is flaking, something is wrong. Poor prepartation, bad quality varnish or????

5. The bilge originally would have been varnished. Some folks strip off the varnish and paint it with a good quality marine bilge paint.

Andreas

[Berta'sBeauty]

Thank you for your insight, Andreas!

One other question about paint.... The underside of the hull to the waterline is painted a bright blue. I have been doing a little research on the subject and also have the original catalog and price list for the Cruiser. They mention an "anti-fouling copper bronze on all bottoms." Is that the blue paint or something else? Is that still what is done to the bottoms today?

I appreciate your comments... we are very new to this and want to do it right.

Best Regards,

[LancerBoy]

Copper bronze anti-fouling bottom paint is the colour of copper-bronze. It is not blue. Someone must have repainted the bottom of your boat at some point.

Copper bronze bottom paint is still available.

Andreas

[Berta'sBeauty]

Thanks again, Andreas. I appreciate your help.

Regards,

[richnle]

Hi Roberta,

Please remember as you work to remove the bottom paint that it is toxic. The first boat I did, I wore a simple dust mask and sanded - something I would not recommend. Even if the dust mask catches the dust as you are working, the dust ends up all over your clothes, your work area, and gets tracked into the house. On my second boat, I used paint stripper (Citristrip) through several applications, and then the paint scraped off easily. Only then did I sand the bottom of the boat and wore an industrial respirator. Even the topside paint can be toxic with lead, so be aware. Good luck with the restoration!!

Rich

[Berta'sBeauty]

Hello Rich (my husband's name also),

Thanks for the warning! It is a real concern that we do not emit toxic dust everywhere... my husband has asthma and I am allergic to everything that moves in the air it seems!

We will consider your recommendation about stripping first... and go from there. I agree with the use of a respirator.

Regards,

[THE LAKE]

Any chance the orginal bottom paint would turn rust red over time ? The fellow I bought my 62 Commander 302V from said he was the 2nd owner and all he did was paint the hull a similar shade of blue as the topside vinyl. The bottom paint seems to be a heck of a lot older than the sides of the hull and it scrapes off fairly easily. It was dry as dust. Bearing in mind it might be an old lead based paint, I used a facemask. Just wondering if I've got "redlead" or the orginal ? Beyond that which is better for when I repaint it next spring ?

Brian

[Eric Larsen]

Welcome aboard! Nice looking boat.

1. Power washing is OK. But use very low pressure and be very, very careful. Use a gentle touch.

2. Use any good quality marine spar varnish. Many brands are fine such as Interlux and Epiphanes. You may use the same varnish for the ceiling and bilge as you use for seats and transom, etc... Do NOT use polyurethane.

3. NEVER use steel wool in a boat situation. No matter how well you clean after using it, some remnants will remain behind. They'll get stuck in the varnish and paint and rust. If you want to use wool, use bronze wool. Sandpaper is a much better choice however.

4. If varnish is flaking, something is wrong. Poor prepartation, bad quality varnish or????

5. The bilge originally would have been varnished. Some folks strip off the varnish and paint it with a good quality marine bilge paint.

Andreas

Andreas, Berta,

I also need to re-varnish the interior of my boat, a '62 Sea Lancer. My question is about power-washing. Can you get the original varnish off without damaging the wood if you are careful? How much of the varnish is removed? Is it clean enough to use CPES? I plan to start slowly on some of the floor supports that I could replace easily to get a feel for it before moving onto ribs and plywood. Any info about the pressure, fan width and your procedure you can provide would be helpful to me. There is an oil residue, probably from years of oil leaks mixing with water that leaked in. I was going to scrub with soapy water and let it dry until early spring. Then re-varnish. But if I can do more good and a more complete job with power-washing, tell me how. Thanks in advance for your help.--Eric L.

[LancerBoy]

Do not use a power washer to attempt to strip off varnish. Use it only for general cleaning the surfaces.

You will have to sand, scrap and/or use chemical strippers to remove varnish.

You have to go to bare wood for CPES to have any chance to soak into the wood.

Andreas