R22 Discussion Group

Can't say I have many pictures of the fix for the hull-deck joint repair

Jesse:
I did a full osmosis repair of the hull below the waterline. I dug out all of the blisters and filled them with epoxy filler than applied 6 coats of Interlux barrier epoxy coating and then antifouling of course. In the process I raised the waterline about 2" as I had some osmosis in that area. Figuring exactly where the new waterline would go turned out to be a puzzle as you can't just measure up 2" from the old one. Also I discovered that the lines on the port and starboard were not in exactly the same position - not that anyone could tell but that set me off on a quest to solve the "problem".

The topsides were painted with an Awlgrip-type paint many years ago and before I bought the boat in 1995. The boat is an incredible endorsement for the longevity of the paint. The exception was the transom which had been damaged when the rudder popped off while the boat was at anchor and badly scraped the gel coat. I also decided that the rudder was not centered precisely and decided to "correct" its location. Another sink hole for time it turned out. As a result of all this I had to paint the transom. It is not the exact same color but you can't tell because the light always hits it from a different angle than the sides. Yellow is a difficult color to get proper coverage with so I must have painted it 10 times before I was adequately satisfied.

Because of the extensive deck work I had done I had no choice but to paint the deck and cockpit - everything white. I also glassed over all of the original non-skid so I needed to replace that as well. I used Kiwi Grip - a truly wonderful product.

I had never spray painted anything before and starting with a deck and cockpit is not how one wants to build experience. Also I didn't want to splurge on an expensive spray painting setup so I bought a very cheap HVLP system on sale for $35 Canadian dollars. I used System 3 waterborne LPU paint and epoxy base coat. I applied three coats of the base and about 3+ coats of the top coat. I would give the paint a questionable review as to longevity - especially compared to the hull paint but I had no desire to spray a dangerous and difficult to manage epoxy paint. I have attached a picture of the boat when newly painted and with the new windows installed and I was pretty pleased with it given that it should have been a disaster. Since then the paint has cracked in some corners and lifted up in a few places. I have found, however, that repairing these problems is not very difficult. I just use an airbrush for small problems and that works pretty well without having to get out the HVLP sprayer, do a lot of masking and use a large quantity of expensive paint.

It is an old boat (76) and on the whole I am happy with it. A lot of work though with removing all hardware and reinstalling it afterwards. The boat deck fairing took me forever until I learned to not use a random orbital sander. The sander makes it smooth but not flat. You really have to use a long-board sander. While very tiring, it is much faster in the end.

Take copious notes and photos about where all the hardware was located - you WILL NOT be able to figure it out easily afterwards when the deck is repaired and painted. I did pretty well with most of the hardware but failed to make notes about the exact placement of the chain plates. That was a mistake as being off only a little can become a significant problem. I was changing the hardware and attachment for the chain plates so they necessarily needed to be moved slightly anyway but knowing the exact location of the old ones would have made my life much easier.

Graham Stewart
gstewart8 at cogeco.ca

Agile name and lettering October 2016 (3).jpg

Agile cockpit painted September 2013.jpg

HVLP spray gun and turbine.jpg

Agile Rhodes 22 launched at dock 2020 b.jpg

Starboard window installed June 6. 2015.jpg

The Rhodes 22 Discussion Group

Graham Stewart

Deck Joint repair question