1981 Osprey 222 Freshen / Overhaul (2 Stage)

[Capt.Joe]

Do my boat next! Hahaha that came out really great. Keep up the good work.

[Ulysses485]

Do my boat next! Hahaha that came out really great. Keep up the good work.

Haha, Hey if you were closer I would gladly help. However, its not too much to tackle. Id be happy to walk you through it over the phone. Shoot me a PM with your number. I am a huge advocate for Gelcoat on boats. Its like sculpting and doesn't quite hold its shine (it surely can if maintained well and kept covered) in the long term over paint but definitely has more durability and longevity over paint IMO.

[Capt. Bob]

U,
It does look nice indeed.

I'm a gelcoat fan also. My hull is 30+ years old and the finish still looks good. Yes maintenance is key and yes, mine is covered.

Keep it coming.

[Ulysses485]

Just some more sanding for prep of Gelcoat..


The white panel is the color everything inside will be. And for frame of reference, I sanded most everything inside that front fish box while sitting inside it. Hoping for a good day to spray the rest in the coming weeks. 

[Capt. Bob]

 

[Ulysses485]

GELCOAT!! Woohoo! Weather was in my favor Saturday (for like 12 hours..lol..actually sprinkled a little WHILE I WAS SPRAYING!) Made some progress on inside liner after the many many days of planning, learning the curve to spray, and LOTS OF SANDING!! At the end of the day, it was more difficult working in the less than ideal environment (leaves beneath me, in/out of boat, and INSECTS!) than the task of actually spraying. And it was late so lighting was not best (spent all afternoon yet again sanding..and still could have sanded and prepped more) and fatigue got the best of me.....gelcoat ran here and there as a result. I am quite excited and very happy with the results and how well Duratec helps lay the Gelcoat down. The center portions are getting non skid and that's why there is no gelcoat there. The fuel tank receiver wasn't ready but I wanted to get the majority done to start sanding and get the cap back on....













If your interested in spraying gelcoat, feel free to shoot me a DM and ill be happy to help.

[RickK]

Looking good - nice job on the gelcoat.  50/50 duratec and gel?

[Ulysses485]

Rickk,

I actually started in the front fish box at about 25% Duratec and worked my way up to 50% when I did the inside liner to limit my sanding as much as possible of orange peel. In hindsight, I didn't provide enough time in between coats for it the tack up before adding material so it ran on me in about 3 or 4 spots towards the end. You live and you learn but 25% was plenty for it to spray good through 2.5mm. And although I was concerned about it kicking at 25% or providing proper "air cure" as Duratec is labeled as, it was rock solid the next morning and lost its tackiness by that following evening after the sunshine set it in (even thought it ran up to 66 degrees). I am also using ISO/NPG FGCI Gelcoat and its pretty smooth stuff.

[Capt. Bob]

 

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Came out great. What gun did you use?

[Ulysses485]

Came out great. What gun did you use?

I used a cheap HPLV gun that i picked up on amazon that has a few tips (1.4/1.7/2.5) to try out. I shot the cap with 1.4mm tip @ 50/50 blend and tried the 2.5mm tip on the inside liner and added less Duratec. Starting with the forward fish box I began at 25% and ended up at 50% at the stern (working my way out of the fish box to the back of the boat). What I learned is that working on vertical surfaces (liner) is much different than working on horizontal surfaces (Cap). I was able to get away with 50% Duratec additive with the cap but not so much on the liner without it running on me. However, I think I could have given it more time to kick off between coats. You live and you learn. 

[Ulysses485]

Making a little more progress during late evenings and weekends. The non skid worked out great (I highly recommend a Badia Garlic powder shaker for medium coarse Pumice from FGCI). I also was able to pick up a used Suzuki that I am pretty happy about which changed my mind of keeping the old Evinrude after all.  With gas prices soaring, I am sure my wallet will be happy that I did. 

Prepped and ready (just before i finished the radius corners:


After spraying a thick layer of Gelcoat and quickly shaking the non skid really thick:


The following afternoon. I was surprised how much material I removed.


Got the console installed to establish waterlines around it and forward/back of it:


More masking off.. I radiused the corners and sprayed some gelcoat after these photos and have to continue masking around the console:


The Suzuki 200 DF200A that i have taken delivery of and will be mounting as soon as all the Gelcoat and fiberglass repairs are done. Existed about new power and technology. Going to integrate everything to NEMA2000 as much as I can for a clean helm station... 12" SIMRAD?? Overkill?  Hmm Options are endless

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Sweet! Are you going to spray more gel over the non skid or is it good like that? You'll love the motor and having it all on one screen is great since you can do split screen.

[Ulysses485]

Sweet! Are you going to spray more gel over the non skid or is it good like that? You'll love the motor and having it all on one screen is great since you can do split screen.

Yes, I have to lock in the non skid at the casting deck so it will be all one uniform color from deck to top of the cap at the end of the day. Cap is getting smooth shiny Gelcoat for now even though I know a lot of people do non skid there as well. The weather hasn't been acting right with the cold evening temps so I just got to prepping the main deck and might do all the finishing Gel (50/50 Gel/Duratec) when the the weather is good all at once. This weekend the weather is all over but looks like it might settle back to dryer mild temps the following so we will see. I am excited about quiet clean efficient power. Ill spend some afternoons cruising down silver springs so it makes me (and my wife) feel better about not polluting the water ways further AND not loosing our hearing or breathing fumes (the things that we consider when we get older...hehe).

[Ulysses485]

Got the non skid done. Going to have touch up to do unfortunately because the thinned (w. duratech) Gelcoat did not seem to want to cover the color of the non skid sand so in some areas there was too much gelcoat sprayed and it went smooth.. 












My process is shown in the pictures but basically I sprayed base coat (raw non-waxed gelcoat through a 2.5mm HPLV) with the liner taped off, immediately shook non skid heavy throughout, peeled the tape and plastic about 45 minutes later. The following morning I swept up the non skid particles and then used an air compressor to lightly get the loose material out (so it wouldn't get thrown in the the liner when sprayed in the topcoat). Later that evening I top coated (50/50 Duratec/Gelcoat) the smooth AND non skid areas. However, if I were to do it again I might try to get the non skid coated with raw gelcoat (non-thinned) with a final coat of 50/50 duratec/gelcoat for better coverage of the non skid tannish color.

I realized afterwards that I should have put drainage lines from the non skid to the back of the boat, correct?...But I don't know if I should worry about it. Thoughts?