Wooden Ski Boat Restoration Questions

I just inherited a 16' wooden ski boat built by my father-in-law in the late 1960s. He built it using marine plywood for the hull, natural finish mahogany for the top side. The seams were sealed with fiberglass tape and resin. The hull was then painted with marine paint.

The hull has a few decades of wear and tear on it now, so I'm wondering what products are now available for filling and surfacing this wooden hull that he surely didn't have to work with then. I need to repair a couple of the fiberglass seams, along with lots of minor dings, nicks, scratches, etc. I would like to also be able to fill any construction low spots while I'm at it, and basically true up the lines a little. Are fillers available that will allow a little building up of areas to true up the sides? Or are you pretty limited to fairly thin layers?

I've had experience with woodworking (furniture) but am new to boats. Therefore any suggestions on restoration materials/techniques would be appreciated.

 

In a word...Epoxy. You can thicken it as a filler, use it as a glue (also thickened), use it as a fairing compound, or laminate with it. You will need to protect it from UV with either paint or varnish (spar).

Steve

 

Yep, a few good versatile epoxies with appropriate hardeners and fillers will do just about everything you need. There's quite a range available and so you can tailor the mix to each particular task. Whether you need hard, sandable, clear, lightweight, whatever, there's a filler that you can blend with the epoxy to get the needed properties. West System's a popular choice; there are many others that all work well.

 

Thanks, sounds good. I took at look at the "West Systems" website. Looks like good stuff. I've also looked at the MAS products. Because of the age of the paint, should I be concerned with lead contamination when sanding (or was that never a component of colored marine paints)?

 

Lead's toxic, yes, and you need to wear protective gear when removing lead paint. You need to wear the same protective gear when sanding/stripping non-lead paints, so I would just err on the side of caution. A good cartridge-type filter mask, rubber-surround goggles, and a few different types of gloves are definitely worth the investment.