20' Hourston Euro Transom

[Sandpiper]

As you can see i had a lot of blisters to fill, poor old thing. Thats what happens when boats sit at the marina for too long without protection. Sanding the thickened epoxy down was labor-intensive about 4 hours for 1 side with 80 grit on 6inch DA. I need to do the other side, then go back and get all the pinholes filled using polyester filler. Then final sand and spray with interprotect 2000E and then topcoat with Teflon epoxy. By then I should have popeye arms from all the sanding and polishing in my future. Eating an elephant one bite at a time on this project. You just can't rush this type of work. Just throw every weekend at it until it's done. Hopefully you guys like where im going with this. Note I have started to use Duraglass and lite weight fairing compound on top of my epoxy and it's sticking and drying nicely. I use it sparingly to reduce future shrinkage and poor adhesion of polyester as much as possible but for the final shaping, it's okay to use sparingly as it's not structural just for getting corners shaped.

I'm going to try and pick away at the other side of the hull- sanding after work this week and possibly spray Interprotect on the hull next weekend if the weather lets me. I need a colour change of something soon or I will go crazy.

Hey Myles, I heard Duraglass was a great product to use by Tom at Jenkins as well. Great project thus far I am looking forward to your next update!

 

[myles]

Hey Myles, I heard Duraglass was a great product to use by Tom at Jenkins as well. Great project thus far I am looking forward to your next update!

The Duraglass is great for filling larger areas in the fairing process. it's much more durable than lightweight fillers. I do use it sparingly as it will shrink a bit over time so if you paint over it expect that repair to be visible in the future. If you are doing anything below the water line and want maximum bond and low shrinkage thickened epoxy is a great alternative. I hope to have a good update by next weekend, maybe something will be painted and possibly gelcoated.

 

[myles]

Looks awesome, Myles, great work for sure and keep the updates coming!

will do

 

[EZZ70]

Hey bud, what an awesome job you are doing, I just found this thread Looks great as usual, I would expect nothing less than perfection... you do better work than some pro's out there.

 

[myles]

Hey bud, what an awesome job you are doing, I just found this thread Looks great as usual, I would expect nothing less than perfection... you do better work than some pro's out there.

You are making me blush. I have made my fair share of mistakes with this boat and this project in particular, but overall it's going smoothly. Getting very excited to splash her. estimate end of May/early June. I have some anchor locker mods and electrical goodies to add as well. The osmosis blistering on the hull really pushed this project into overtime. talk about the worst kind of overhead work. I think the boat is mostly epoxy now

 

[myles]

Did a lot of early mornings and late evenings the past week to get things decently fair.

Sprayed Interprotect 2000E with a pressure pot yesterday. Starting around 330pm i did a dust coat, followed by coat #1. I laid a second coat down after achieving the thumbprint test around 515pm. I put the second coat on a little thicker and tried to flood out some of the larger pinhole areas with limited success. probably just made more sanding. With temps dropping i wasn't able to spray the third coat until 915pm. The third coat was only on the hull, and i dumped 1 gal on so it was rather thick. I only sprayed the new part on the stern with 2 coats as it's just showing me where i still need to fair it out. The transom will get shot with Duratec vinyl ester primer and hot coated with Duratec/Gelcoat once I get the final fairing done. The vinylester should bite in to sanded primer, and it will get a chemical bond with the Gelcoat to the vinylester if done hot.

I will need to sand the entire thing tomorrow to remove the orange peel and prep for the bottom paint. overall the hull isn't perfect, not even close. But i don't think I'm going to go too crazy with things as it looks much better than it did and is a hell of a lot smoother.

I put 3 layers of tape on the hull, this trick is to blend the paint line as it comes up the hull so you're not left with a big proud line. It takes more time but when it works its pretty slick.

10 kokanee to complete this spray.

 

[EZZ70]

Did a lot of early mornings and late evenings the past week to get things decently fair.

Sprayed Interprotect 2000E with a pressure pot yesterday. Starting around 330pm i did a dust coat, followed by coat #1. I laid a second coat down after achieving the thumbprint test around 515pm. I put the second coat on a little thicker and tried to flood out some of the larger pinhole areas with limited success. probably just made more sanding. With temps dropping i wasn't able to spray the third coat until 915pm. The third coat was only on the hull, and i dumped 1 gal on so it was rather thick. I only sprayed the new part on the stern with 2 coats as it's just showing me where i still need to fair it out. The transom will get shot with Duratec vinyl ester primer and hot coated with Duratec/Gelcoat once I get the final fairing done. The vinylester should bite in to sanded primer, and it will get a chemical bond with the Gelcoat to the vinylester if done hot.

I will need to sand the entire thing tomorrow to remove the orange peel and prep for the bottom paint. overall the hull isn't perfect, not even close. But i don't think I'm going to go too crazy with things as it looks much better than it did and is a hell of a lot smoother.

I put 3 layers of tape on the hull, this trick is to blend the paint line as it comes up the hull so you're not left with a big proud line. It takes more time but when it works its pretty slick.

10 kokanee to complete this spray.

Nice work! Cant wait to see the final...

 

[myles]

Nice work! Cant wait to see the final...

I got all the pin holes and faring done on saturday with a glazing putty. So now I just need to sand the primer and decide if I'm spraying the gel coat first? Probably makes sense to do gel then bring bottom-up to it.

 

[Brando]

I got all the pin holes and faring done on saturday with a glazing putty. So now I just need to sand the primer and decide if I'm spraying the gel coat first? Probably makes sense to do gel then bring bottom-up to it.

Did you alternate interprotect colors or spray the grey each coat? I rolled mine and had good results looks like the spraying goes on nice! Looking forward to your results that big mercs got lots of buoyancy now.

 

[EZZ70]

I got all the pin holes and faring done on saturday with a glazing putty. So now I just need to sand the primer and decide if I'm spraying the gel coat first? Probably makes sense to do gel then bring bottom-up to it.

Good idea myles, I would do the gel as well first, then cover where you want your water line. What did you use for a glazing putty?

 

[ab1752]

Wow, Myles, you're killing it, looks awesome! You're gonna a beat me back on the water, great work man!

 

[myles]

Did you alternate interprotect colors or spray the grey each coat? I rolled mine and had good results looks like the spraying goes on nice! Looking forward to your results that big mercs got lots of buoyancy now.

I had 2 gal of gray, so loaded up the same colour for each coat. alternating colours would be a great idea. I should have thought of that... I sanded it today with 80 grit, as prep for the epoxy bottom paint which is also a barrier coat. I did burn through in a few places mostly from proud areas that i didnt fair well enough.

Spraying with a pressure pot takes more prep, but you don't have to do as many coats which is nice and it provides a better finish. It was about 4 hours to sand out the entire boat, including hand sanding the chines which took at least 1.5 hours. It sanded very easily for once.

 

[myles]

Good idea myles, I would do the gel as well first, then cover where you want your water line. What did you use for a glazing putty?

Im glad you agree. A few people have said the same thing. makes sense the more i think about it to do the Gel first. I used USC icing for the pinholes. First time using it, really nice to work with but stinky so I masked up!

I'm shooting Duratec primer and gel Tuesday. Then i will spray the bottom with the VC offshore stuff Wed and let it all cure for a few days and then slide the trailer back on. It's nice to finally feel like I'm winning with all this and be done with the glass work. (almost)

This weekend I also go the bow prepped for some fiberglass work and a new windlass. I gutted the headliner downstairs and in the galley as well. Might as well replace all that old junk while I'm at it.

The Merc should look more balanced on the back now I was surprised how symmetrical the addition was when I finally went into the boat. Good enough at least..

 

[Bifmalibu]

The boat looks awesome, Great work! Did you go the Euro transom route for the obvious strength advantages over a pod? The only drawback I can see is easier re-boarding in the event of a man-overboard scenario with a pod.

 

[Brando]

Im glad you agree. A few people have said the same thing. makes sense the more i think about it to do the Gel first. I used USC icing for the pinholes. First time using it, really nice to work with but stinky so I masked up!

I'm shooting Duratec primer and gel Tuesday. Then i will spray the bottom with the VC offshore stuff Wed and let it all cure for a few days and then slide the trailer back on. It's nice to finally feel like I'm winning with all this and be done with the glass work. (almost)

This weekend I also go the bow prepped for some fiberglass work and a new windlass. I gutted the headliner downstairs and in the galley as well. Might as well replace all that old junk while I'm at it.

The Merc should look more balanced on the back now I was surprised how symmetrical the addition was when I finally went into the boat. Good enough at least..

You sure are a sucker for punishment but it looks awesome!

 

[myles]

The boat looks awesome, Great work! Did you go the Euro transom route for the obvious strength advantages over a pod? The only drawback I can see is easier re-boarding in the event of a man-overboard scenario with a pod.

Glad for the vote of confidence. I'm loving the lines too-cant wait to see it at 30 mph. I approached this all backwards, I built a offshore bracket first, then I turned that into a planning pod which made it run a lot better (but slower). Then I really hated how the trim tabs where so far forward and needed to use 30% tab to run the boat correctly which made me think there was untapped potential. The primary objective of the eurotransom is to get more stern lift at cruise and have the tabs further back (maybe better fuel economy). Secondary benefits are strength and space for a cooler/bait tank/kill bag

Reboarding will be a bit harder, I will have to hop up over the back lip. I guess I will have to start drinking light beer and get back in the gym?

 

[myles]

Got the Gel on yesterday. Conditions in the tent were steller with 24 deg C and 55% humidity. Started with 2 coats of vinyl ester primer and hot coated with gel reduced 30% with Duratec high gloss.
The colour match seems close and won't know if it's perfect until I sand and polish but it looks close. A friend of mine did the colour job, and then said I sucked at spraying so he shot the whole thing while I mixed and drank beer. Not a bad deal.

On track to spray bottom paint this weekend after work. I will sneak some sand and polishing in before then I'm sure.

12 pack honey brown was the ticket for this shift.

 

[Highliner]

It's looking great!

 

[Oly1]

Got the Gel on yesterday. Conditions in the tent were steller with 24 deg C and 55% humidity. Started with 2 coats of vinyl ester primer and hot coated with gel reduced 30% with Duratec high gloss.
The colour match seems close and won't know if it's perfect until I sand and polish but it looks close. A friend of mine did the colour job, and then said I sucked at spraying so he shot the whole thing while I mixed and drank beer. Not a bad deal.

On track to spray bottom paint this weekend after work. I will sneak some sand and polishing in before then I'm sure.

That boat is going to be turning heads everywhere you take it. Great work. Is that a WCB approved ladder you’re using for spraying the gel coat? LOL

Oly

 

[myles]

It's looking great!

That boat is going to be turning heads everywhere you take it. Great work. Is that a WCB approved ladder you’re using for spraying the gel coat? LOL

Oly

Thank you it been a fun project so far and I'm happy it's all coming together. The ladder is rated for 225lb and I'm thinking Don might be a few lbs over the rated capacity?? If WCB came into the tent they would be having a field day