I will try to keep it short. I had major back surgery and Dr told me to get a hobby like fishing to be semi active. I found a good deal on a 1986 20ft center console saltwater boat and got it to use in the local lake and when on vacation I could use it in the ocean. I have always wanted to saltwater fish. First and last time I was 12 and with my dad and immediately got sick lol. I am 47 so I wanted to try it again. The boat had 2 soft spots in the typical areas. In front of console and in front of the motor. Come to find out the whole floor was soaked. I got Git Rot and drilled holes through out the floor and injected the resin and it did no good at all. I was told to get sheets of plywood and paint it with Durabak 18 textured coating. So I took the console out and spent probably 100+ hours sanding inside and outside of the boat. Put the plywood in which took awhile cause I wanted it to fit perfectly. Then chalked seams and the sides so water couldn't get between the new plywood and original flooring. Then I put the textured Durabak 18 down after a few coats it started looking good. That stuff is hard to work with and gets thick within 2 hours or so. Not easy to do as I thought it would be. I painted the outside sky blue and inside light cream. I spent over $1000 for just the Durabak. One gallon and a quart of blue for outside and 5 gallons for the inside. It looks good 10 feet away lol. The outside I got the smooth version and did the bay doors. The next I went out to check it and the wife and I were excited. Dang it's gonna look awesome! Open the can to paint the outside and the paint is hard. Cured. I called Durabak and after they talked with management they sent me a gallon for free. Shocked but happy. I coated the outside and walked away for few days. When I went back to it, I got sick to my stomach cause of all the air bubbles. It looked like a semi gloss textured. It looks like a commercial fishing boat. Embarrassing but I go to the lake almost everyday for about 2 months now and I want to go to Gulf Shores Alabama and saltwater fish. I have been down in my back for about 2 weeks now and barely able to work so no fishing. I felt ok yesterday evening so I planned to go fishing this morning so I got the water hose out last night to spray the ants off the boat and the Durabak is coming off inside in a few spots. Outside is sticking good just ugly. I know I got to redo it all over again and get all the Durabak off. This is really depressing but I can't just let it go. Reason being, my mom passed and I used what she left me to buy the boat and fix it up. Get this, boat registration numbers are her birthday numbers. How cool is that? Sorry this is so long but I need advice on how to fix it. Is the flooring ok the way I was told to do it? Its actually holding up good. Paint wise inside and out i am at a lost especially with money being a issue. I am new at this so please be nice lol. Thanks in advance.
