Bottom Paint on the Mariner

Another great day of work on the Mariner with a special visit from Mariner Class Association member John Davies, #3337. John drove up from Traverse City with his wife to take a look at my boat and offer his extensive knowledge of the Mariner and personal recommendations on the condition of the boat and the repairs I am undertaking. I am very grateful for his generosity.

John told me the repairs thus far look good and made a great list of the next steps. His first recommendation was that I get the trailer rollers in proper contact with the hull so that I can prevent the same issues coming back. Next, scraping or grinding out the interior of the hull/deck joint and adding 3M 5200 to prevent water getting in at that point.

He confirmed my observation that there does not appear to be any lead ballast in the typical area along the CB trunk in my boat. Our thought is that this was a Spindrift-only variation. Perhaps because of this the CB trunk does look like it needs reinforcing as I noticed with the cracks around the opening, John recommended reinforcing this area all around the trunk with several layers of glass.

The biggest structural repair that needs to be attended to eventually is that the rear crossmember of the hull liner is delaminating from the hull. In fact most of the hull liner around the cabin sole, quarter berths and at the support member are delaminating from the outer hull. Perhaps this was a result of the Spindrift manufacturing process? I will post pictures when I have a chance to take some more in the cabin and under the cockpit. John recommended fixing the tabing and adding new glass over the the joints when I have the time.



After John left, I sanded down yesterday's glassing and put on the first coat of bottom paint. The bottom paint I am using is West Marine's Bottom Shield which should work well for the limited time my boat spends in the water. My short term plan is to add a few more coats of bottom paint, finish removing the old beat up stickers from the hull, re-bed the deck hardware, and thoroughly clean the topsides, and then go sailing! Other projects that I hope to get to this summer are sealing the hull/deck joint, reinforcing the CB trunk, and fixing the joint between the hull liner and outer hull.