1989 Searay 200 Cuddy

[lkennett]

Looking for some advice. Last year I bought a '89 Searay 200 cuddy cabin, almost 500 hours on the engine / drive. Used it for the season and it performed flawlessly. I want to fix up some blemishes on the hull, from what I can tell everything is original. I was told it was stored indoors and launched on a marine rail, it really is in great shape for a 27 year old boat.

Lots of nicks and gouges and the rub rail on one side, looks like it got lifted a bit when at the dock. Going to replace the rail, no big deal. I am having trouble deciding what to do with the hull. The gel coat polishes up great. A few stress cracks here and there and some gouges, most are just a few inches below the rub rail on the starboard side. probably from docking.

At first I was going to redo the gel on the entire boat, just because its going to be a nightmare to try and color match what I have (two tone, green & white). Then I started reading and most people seem to do paint. I have spray equipment but I would rather tip and roll if possible. I would just do the whole thing in white.

I started looking at the products from Interlux, but im not sure which way I should go.

I could just try and fix the spots on the gelcoat, but I have a feeling it is going to look very patchy if my color does not match.

Let me know what you guys think. I can post pictures if it helps, I will just go out and take some.

 

[lkennett]

Here are some pictures, looking for feedback. What would you do?

Looks good from far




Rub rail wave. Being replaced


Scratches and scuffs



Rub rail in rough shape





Gouge on starboard side, with a poor attempt at repair



Bow scrapes


A few hairline cracks, was going to open them up and repair with gelcoat.





Port side is not too bad.

 

[jbcurt00]

If it helps you decide which way to go, even perfectly color matched repairs often stand out eventually. The new gel in the repair fades at a diffetent rate then the old gelcoat....

 

[lkennett]

Thanks. I am definitely leaning towards paint, probably Interlux brightside. Anybody do a boat like this with good results from paint? Im just worried about jumping into a project like this and making a mess.

 

[Isaacm1986]

I have read a lot of good things on the interlux paint. I have personally never used it.

I use the rustoluem marine paint. Thinned down according to the directions on the can. And i sprayed it through a HVLP sprayer. Here are a few pics of the boat i have painted. Granted mine was aluminum, not over gelcoat. But i have been impressed with the rustoleum marine paint.

Mine took 4 coats, and I wet sanded between each coat. started with 800 grit and worked up to 2000 grit just to make it shine. Turned out really nice.

Before


After

 

[lkennett]

Thanks for the response Issac. Great looking boat, looks like a factory finish. Not sure where I would find the Rustoleum line of marine paints up here, I am in Canada about 2 hours north east of Toronto.

I finally ordered my supplies Friday. A gallon of Pre-coat, gallon of Interlux brightside white, also got the interprotect 2000 for the bottom. Never any bottom paint on this boat but a few little cracks in the gel coat, nothing major. Going to fix them before applying the interprotect paint. This boat is trailered for now, if I decide to get a slip next year I will apply an ablative paint also. We are on the trent severn waterway.

I have painted many things before, I have the compressor and equipment where I could spray what I want. I think however I am going to try the roll and tip method as it seems to be the most efficient and it will save me from having to worry about overspray.

I did also order the brushing thinner and cleaner for the gel coat as per the brightside application instructions. Everything should arrive tomorrow.

I did also consider doing the Interlux Perfection paint, I know it would be a harder finish but the cost was drastically more and the application seemed to be far more involved. I could have also sprayed a new layer of gel coat but my main concern was getting a gel coat layer that was overly thick and brittle resulting in more cracks.

I know I will need to sand between coats with brightsides but I have heard mixed results with buffing the final coat.