Captivator’s bottom challenged us in so many ways. Save for fewer than a dozen, the bottom fasteners were both sound and tight. We found only one plank with a very small bit of rot on it. There was a small rotted area along her spine, right where the keel transitions into the stem, that appeared once we released her keel and keelson.
We caulked/sealed the Striptite below the waterline with Jamestown Distributors’ TotalBoat ThixoFlex, a product that was new to us, but came highly recommended by other shops that had extensive experience with it.
Bottom line. ThixoFlex is now our go-to product for any application that requires aggressive adhesion combined with maximum elasticity. I recommend it in place of Interlux Seam Compound, which, even when heated, is a vexing, frustrating, difficult-to-pay material.
Once sealed with the ThixoFlex – first three passes, Joe sanded the entire bottom fair using 60 grit followed by 80 grit paper on a Festool inline sander.
We then sanded the new transom fair and stained it with Wood-Kote Brown Mahogany Jel’d Stain. Why would we stain the transom before we seal the bottom? A small section of the transom lies below the waterline, so it must be sealed with CPES ahead of priming and painting. We know from experience that, CPES migrates where it wants to go, even when masked using Frog Tape heated with a heat gun set at a low temperature.
Once it passes under the tape, it continues drizzling down the bare transom leaving a series of stalactites where the CPES has soaked into the mahogany. Now you have hell to pay and worse. Bleaching the transom will not pull the CPES out of the grain. Stripper does a little, but the lines will still be quite evident after staining.
Staining the transom first allowed us to seal the entire area all at once. No masking needed, and no risks of generating stalactites confront us.
Three full coats of Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer (CPES) followed.
We primed with two coats of Pettit Tie Coat Primer 6627.
Joe began blowing through the bottom painting milestone this morning when he applied the first coat of TotalBoat Shark White JD Select Ablative Bottom Paint.
From Jamestown Distributors:
TotalBoat JD Select is a single-season, water-based ablative antifouling bottom paint that provides incredible results for a very low cost. It is low in VOCs, very easy to apply, and cleans up with just soap and water.
JD Select can be brushed, rolled, or sprayed then burnished for a smooth, fuel-efficient finish. With the exception of VC17, JD Select can be applied over aged antifouling coats without fear of lifting. Available in Black, Blue, Green, Red, Shark White & Teal. We will apply three coats now, and recommend that Captivator’s owner apply one coats per season in the future.
Flipping her aright cannot happen soon enough!