Good As New!

After months and months of looking for a new boat (or new to us), we decided after much
debate to keep what we had, and refurbish. This article is about how an average Joe like
me, with no boat yard, or painting experience refurbishing a 1988 Haines Signature
1850L. As with many of you I’m sure you’ve read a number of articles on how so and
so stripped their hull and had a professional boat yard refurbish their hull. I went about
it from a different point of view, I wanted to do it myself, however accepted that probably
the most important aspect of the refurbishment was the actual laying of the paint, and
decided to contract the spraying out to “a professional”.

Before I delve into the actual process of refurbishment, let me give you a bit of history on
the boat. Having been transplanted from the States some 7 years ago to the central coast
of NSW I was fortunate enough to befriend a number of charter operators working out of
Terrigal, while working for fishing time I was able to learn quite a bit about the local area
and how to fish in foreign waters. After a couple of years of this, I decided it was time
to go it alone, as well as now having acquired a family of 4 (my wife loves to fish and we
have 2 boys aged 8 and 10 now). We needed a boat that could handle a number of
functions, be reasonably towable by a family sedan, capable of operating offshore up to
say 20 nautical miles, and if need be pull a water skier.

Again after many months of scouring the newspapers, Boat Trader, reading magazines,
visiting boat yards all up and down the central NSW coast and Sydney, we found the
“Perfect Boat”. A 1988 Haines Signature 1850L powered by a Johnson 140 hp outboard.
She came to us at a reasonable price, however most of her life was spent fishing inshore
waters, as the danforth anchor on had 30 M of rope, and the rod holders were of the
plastic bolt on type, I couldn’t imagine what would happen to one of them when a 40 kg
yellowfin hit with 8 kg’s of drag on my 24 kg standup rig, however she was clean and at
a reasonable price.

We then set about outfitting her for light tackle game fishing, and bottom fishing off
Terrigal. This included HD rod holders, new 27 Meg radio, Eprib, 12 ft outriggers, live
bait tank/ cutting board, rocket launcher. It’s interesting to note that over the past few
years I’ve read allot of magazines and some books on older boats in Australia and have
yet to see the Signature 1850L or the 1750 or 1950 for that matter listed, however I’m
here to tell you she’s one hell of a boat. After the modifications listed above, we’ve
regularly taken her offshore to the shelf for Yellowfin, Marlin trips, numerous Dolphin
fish and hours of bottom bashing. She has performed flawlessly. In one-instance 4 years
ago, we’d had a 25-knot SE’er blowing for 3 days, and on Sunday morning it was
forecasted to ease to 5 to 10. We loaded up with 240 liters of fuel, 100-liter esky with
ice and bait, 3 adults and 4 kids aged between 6 and 8. Off we went to the shelf some
25 nautical miles away with good mates in tow with a 5.5 m plate boat. I had to stop 3
times for them to catch us in a 2-M swell. When they did finally catch up they were
soaking wet and complaining that they were bashing so hard their electronics where
shutting off!! Needless to say, we were all dry and the kids were just happy playing, on
the floor during our 1-½ hr run. We also managed 7 yellowfin that day over 40 kgs to
boot, but that’s another story.

After a number of good years, I began to worry about the engine; the old 140 had
performed flawlessly and now had 850 hours on the clock. We’d had one ignition coil
fail and one day while out with the kids in a 20 knot NE’er she lost the oil injection
pump, I nursed her home by mixing all the oil in the injection bottle into the tank and
went home just above idle.

After talking to a number of mechanics, they indicated to me that at this time in the
engine’s life (recreational use not commercial) that between 850 – 1200 hrs it’s common
to start having some “Major” problems. So now the consideration becomes, do we
rebuild or repower ? Once again, we research via, magazines, friends, Internet and local
boat shops. During this period as well we’d spent considerable time pulling lures for
Marlin in our waters with very little success, we’d hooked a few and managed to land 1
of about 50 kgs, however we could be right next to my mates charter boat with a diesel
engine, pulling the same lures in the same water, and not raise a fish and he’d raise 5 and
tag 3! We began wondering about the old wives tales of oil in the water from a 2-stroke
outboard, and another obvious difference the sound of the 2 stroke Vs a diesel or even a
4-stroke outboard. Not to mention that we’d run 18 miles to just inside the shelf, put out
the lures and troll for 4-6 hrs, then run home and burn approx. 200 liters of fuel.

Hence we seriously began looking at the 4-stroke repower option. In the end we opted
for a new Honda 130, and I’ll tell you now, I would not go back to a 2 stroke. We went
from burning 200 liters as mentioned above to 60 –80 for the same day out. The
incredible difference in noise alone made the investment worth it. At 4,500 rpm we
could have a conversation from the helm to the stern at near normal voice levels, the 2
stroke on the other hand we had to shout, and in some cases just pull back to idle.
Another big benefit is trolling at slow speeds, we’d tried trolling live slimies around at 2
knots with the 2 stroke and after 20 minutes or so, we’d have to put it in neutral and rev
her up to clean out the plugs, or even foul them. With the Honda we could troll livies
around for hours with no smoke, no noise, and not a worry about the plugs. We’ve even
taken the boat up creeks in Qld and towed lures for Barra and been quite successful.

Let me say it again, if your looking to repower, I cannot say enough about 4 strokes, and
Honda being the leader and most respected manufacture of 4 Strokes takes my vote, but
then again I have not tried the competitors, and at the time Honda was the only one
offering anything over 90 hp.

On the down side, we’ve never been able to prove the Marlin raising theory as the motor
was replaced in Apr 2000 at the end of the Marlin season in NSW and in July of 2000 we
moved to Mount Isa in Qld!

Hence the next stage of our story. Now living in Mount Isa with a rather large boat,
what are your options? Well first of all we have a very nice and large lake here only 15
km’s from town, Lake Moodarra the fishing here is just beginning to take off with Barra,
but the water skiing, wakeboarding, and ski biscuit behind the boat is great for the kids.
We also have Karumba, which is only 580 km’s away!!

Now it gets interesting, as I say Karumba is only 580 km’s away, if your in Brisbane,
Sydney or Melbourne, this might as well be on the other side of Australia, however up
here, this is a day trip !! One old timer told us when we moved to town “ When you live
in Sydney, Mount Isa is a long way, however if you live in Mount Isa, Sydney isn’t that
far “. Hence we get used to driving long distances.

So, after getting the boat transported to Mount Isa, we had a few trips to the local lake,
and then make the big plans for Karumba. Let me point out now, that the road to
Karumba while being 580 km’s, 460 kms of this is on single lane bitumen, if you
encounter a road train coming the other way, they will not get off the road, you must
leave the road entirely, as they pass. Well, having been in Sydney for the past 4 years
with the Haines, and pulled her to the boat ramp nearly every weekend, and we’d even
ventured to Port Stephens twice, we new we’d make this trip to Karumba no worries !!

Well let me tell you, we were warned, but didn’t listen. Our trailer came to us refitted
with 13” wheels and 4 retreaded tyres. The locals all told me, you’ll need 2 spares, and
maybe go to 14”. Naw, She’ll be right Mate, famous last words.

We loaded up the boat with all our gear, fuel in the car off we go and left Mount Isa at
2:00 on Friday afternoon hoping to get to Karumba by 7:00 PM that night before dark, as
there are allot roos and cattle on the road. We managed to make 46 Km’s from Mount
Isa before the first retread delaminated !!! Now we were prepared, and had a floor jack
in the back of the Pajero and 2 spares. It only took us 20 minutes to change it and be on
our way again. However over the next 40 minutes or so, I recalled what the locals had
told, me “She’s single lane all the way from the Curry (Cloncurry that is), and only 1
petrol station between the Curry and Normanton, that’s at 3 ways. 480 Km’s on Friday
night with only 1 spare left. I made it to Cloncurry by about 4:30 PM and decided
quickly to buy a new spare, and the heck with it, we had the other spare fitted with a new
tyre, as I’d tried to save a few bucks and only bought a second hand tyre for the spare
cause I wouldn’t need it, and couldn’t see the value of buying a $ 80.00 tyre to just sit on
the trailer and rot.

Well after an hour in Cloncurry getting the tyres changed, and getting some food etc. Off
we went again, well thank christ we’d stopped cause approx. 100 km’s out of the Curry
another tyre delaminated! We again stopped and changed it (this time only 15 minutes,
between the wife and kids we looked like a pit stop at Bathurst). We finally made it to
Karumba that night at 11:30 PM !! I can tell you I was stressed and tense after 5 more
hours in the dark, dodging roos, cattle and road trains.

We had a great trip to Karumba, caught lot’s of Kinge’s as they call em up here
(Threadfin Salmon), blue nose salmon and fresh muddies. On the way back home, once
again 150 km’s south of Karumba we again blew our 3-rd retread tyre, this now left me
with one spare new tyre and 1 retread on the trailer. Needless to say, I sweated it all the
way back to Mount Isa, luckily we had no further flats and made it home.

Well straight away an order went into the local tyre shop for 4 brand new 14” galvanized
rims and light truck tyres. This combination has provided for a number of worry free
trips to Karumba and Townsville and back.

However, during these long trips I did begin to have worries about the trailer itself, the
trailer having been in use for almost 13 years, and a good majority of this in Saltwater,
was showing some serious signs of corrosion, (even though it had always been rinsed in
fresh) and had the springs, hangers and wheel bearings replaced some 2 years earlier, I
was concerned over pulling these distances, allot of bouncing on the tongue of the trailer
made me nervous travelling at 100 kph in the desert with 1 tonne of boat behind you.
We then began the process of rebuild or replace?

As I have some mechanical background, I felt I could remove the boat, strip the trailer,
beef up the area'’ of concern, and have the entire trailer galvanized. However after
reviewing the cost of galvanizing, new bearings, springs, hangers and rollers Vs a new
trailer the decision process was quite easy.

I made a number of calls to boat dealers looking for a new trailer, as the wheels and tyres
were next to new, I’d opted to keep them. After a few calls and quotes, I settled on a
new Belco dual axle trailer, fully galvanized including springs and axles, alloy mud
guards, and a true “Drive on Drive off” trailer was ordered. The price was just over
$ 4,000.00. When you consider it was estimated to “Rebuild” the old trailer for approx. $
2,000, and I sold the old trailer for $ 1,000 we ended up with a brand new trailer for an
extra $ 1,000 and allot less work.

This investment has paid for itself many times over, with the feeling of security traveling
1000’s of km’s through the outback, and having a true drive on, roll off trailer making
loading and un-loading a breeze.

Having provided the background, I’ll get to where this article is going. As I said we live
in Mount Isa, and our boat does not get the use it once did while living on the Central
Coast of NSW. We spend a good portion of our time in Townsville and started looking
at possibly a weekend boat. 25 Bertram or that sort, however after once again coming,
Boat Trader, newspapers, talking to boat yards, the expense of mooring a boat Vs a trailer
boat, the fact we can take the kids out to the lake etc. we finally opted to give the old girl
a good tidy up, especially with the new trailer and a hell of a good outboard.

So once again, scour the boating magazines, Internet, boat shops, friend’s etc for
information. The decision was made to strip the hull, sand her back and give it a good
coat of 2-pack paint.
As outlined in the beginning of this article, I approached this as a guy with a mechanical
background, but no real boat yard, or painting experience. The first step was to clean
and strip the hull.

I will point out here that I am lucky enough to have access to a very large and fully
equipped workshop with compressed air, overhead crane, and steam cleaning facilities.
However a good portion of this work could be accomplished in your shed, by either
renting or borrowing some of this equipment.

To clean the hull, I used the steam cleaner set on the highest pressure, and temperature it
would go. I should also mention that at one point in it’s life someone had moored the
boat and the bottom was covered in an old black anti-foul paint, which while not looking
good also made a mess on the trailer rollers, and my white fishing tee shirts when ever I
pulled the bungs and rubbed up against it. The steam cleaner would not touch the anti-
foul, but what it did make short work of, was the stickers, anti-skid tape on the deck and
pin stripping on the hull. By angling the pressure washer just right, and with the heat, it
would lift all of these items off the hull with very little effort.

Now, the hull was cleaned all pin-stripping, decals etc removed all seats, top etc taken
off. Next was to remove all handrails, windscreen, fittings, etc. I removed the engine
with an overhead crane, and as I didn’t have a proper motor stand, welded a steel plate to
a work bench, bolted the motor to this, and supported the skeg with blocks of wood to
keep it from falling over backwards.

Worth noting here is that alot of items on the boat had been installed with silicone to
prevent water ingress, such as the windscreen frame, rod holders, etc. It is critical to get
all of the silicone off or the paint will not stick. I was very concerned that one small
patch of paint not sticking would lead to peeling. I tried a number of methods of
removing the silasitc, and finally settled on this, scrape the silastic the best you possibly
can with a razor blade, then wipe terp’s on it and let it sit for a minute or so, then scrap
again until all silastic is gone. I even tried sanding with a power sander and it did not
come off. This method also proved very effective from removing the remaining glue
from the anit-skid tape, and decals on the boat. Let the terp’s sit for a minute to soften it
up and scrap off with a razor blade.

During all my research reading articles, and discussing with boat yards, and with the local
painter I selected to lay the paint, Preparation is the key to a good finish, and preparation
means sanding, and I mean LOTS of sanding. I can not express enough here, that a 20-ft
boat has allot of surface area, and requires extensive sanding. I was fortunate enough to
have access to a dual action pneumatic sander, which made it easier, but there is allot of
sanding. I started by “Roughing” up the entire hull with 240 grit on the D/A sander.
Next came was using Epifill to repair all of the scratches, chips and gouges on the hull.
Also in the past some holes were drilled in the dash for radios, sounders etc, also the
comings had holes drilled for plastic rod holders and drink holders, which we had
removed along time ago. These holes were all filled with Epifill as well.
Once again, more sanding I used 100 grit to knock the Epifill down and then 180 and 240
to finish it off.

The keel had considerable damage from running up on rocks, boat ramps, missing the
trailer etc, which required allot of filling and repeated sanding.

Worth noting, I asked the painter about the anti-foul, and removing possibly with paint
remover, however he indicated to me that with Gelcoat it was not a good idea, so again
allot of sanding went into removing the loose portion of the anti-foul, preparing for the
painting.

In regards to the actual paint, I had considered using automotive type paint as it’s cheaper
and easier to obtain (especially in Mount Isa, marine paint is not kept in stock here),
however after discussions with boat yards and some careful consideration, I have elected
to use a marine paint. Why? Well, if automotive paint were just as good as marine
paint, why would marine paint even be manufactured? Wouldn’t all boat yards just use
automotive paint? Hey I would, as I said it’s generally cheaper and easier to get. I also
thought marine paints are chemically designed to adhere to fiberglass, and to withstand
the harsh environment of the world’s oceans, docks, piers, pilings and trailers. As to
whether or not this is the correct decision, I will not be able to say for a couple of years
when we see how the hull looks after use.

In regards to brands, I chose Northane, not because I believe it was any better than
another brand, but because it came in the colours I wanted.

I have chosen to spray the boat in a pearl white main colour, with a port wine stripe, and
gray stripe-running length wise down the hull. The original colour was cream with the
port wine stripe, to match the maroon interior. This allows me to keep the interior
relatively the same. I’ve replaced the original drivers seat with a new Rae-Line seat with
short pedestal to be mounted on the original seat base as shown, and have had the
passenger back to back seats re upholstered. The beauty of the back to back is it’s
comfortable, you have a good seat facing back wards if your trolling lures, and it folds
down flat into a bed should you wish to sleep a third person on the boat, or just have a
nap.

I would like to touch here on qty’s of supplies I’ve used so far. I ordered a 850 gm can
of Epifill, my first batch I mixed up, I used a considerable amount as I knew I had a lot to
fill, however not realizing that it started to go off in approx. 20 minutes, as I was filling
scratches etc, it became quite tacky and difficult to work with, I had to throw out a good
portion of this batch. Having said this, I’ve filled a number of large gouges, holes, chips
etc and will have still over 1/3 of the can left. Hopefully this will provide you with an
idea of how much you may need when working on your own boat.

Paint, well the can say’s it would cover 10 sq meters per liter, based upon some quick
calculations we decided to purchase 4 liters of primer, 4 liters of final coat and 1 liter of
port wine trim paint. On the first go round with the primers, the painter used 4 liters of
primer for the inside, deck and down the sides of the hull not getting the bottom, with
only 2 coats. We ended up with 8 liters of primer, 6 liters of final coat and 1 liter of port
wine and 1 liter of gray.

After finally filling all scratches, gouges, voids etc with the epifill, giving the entire hull
another sand with 240 grit, it was time for the primer. We taped off the interior, all
openings, and the cabin windows. As we did not have a proper paint booth, we opened
the workshop at either end, with exhaust fans at the outlet, this allows the overspray to be
drawn out, rather than hang in the air and fall on the wet paint. We also hosed down the
floor, and surrounding areas to reduce dust, and as the over spray fell, it would not dry up
and blow onto the wet paint.

The first coat of primer was put on, and I could finally begin to see the fruits of my
labour paying off as the hull looked a million dollars just in the primer.

After allowing the primer to dry for 2 days, it was back to sanding. Again the entire hull
was sanded back with 240 grit. Let me mention here that one of the main purposes of
the primer, is to fill all of the low spots and aid in feathering out all of the previous
sanded areas as well as sealing the hull and epifill. The hull was given a good heavy
sanding, and alot of highspots came right back out.

After this sanding the hull was again wipped down, and ready for the next coat of primer.
On this went and it looked even better than the first. After another 2 days of drying, it
was sanded as well, not quite as heavily as the first coat, and more a rough up to allow
the paint to dry. The painter also brought in some filling putty for filling all the small
pin holes, scratches etc, which were sanded off as well.

Now for the final coat and the big day. Once again the entire hull was blown off, and
wiped down with a grease remover.

The two pack was mixed up by the painter, and off he went. Well I’ll tell you after 3
weeks of working after work and on weekends to get it stripped, and sanded it was a
wonderful feeling to see the final paint being laid on the hull, and did it look impressive.
The entire hull as painted white, from the keel to the top deck, and down inside the
combings. The painter applied 2 coats of finish coat wet on wet, and it was fantastic.

We did discover a couple of substancial runs on the bow of the starboard side and near
the transom on the port side. I contacted Norglass in Sydney who manufacture the
paint, and was quite impressed with their support over the phone. They indicated to me,
that as we had let it dry for 2 days, if we tried to sand the runs out and sweat in new paint
it would not match well. They also indicated as it is a high gloss finish paint, that
sanding and polishing would not match. The other issue is that since the paint dries so
hard and glossy, the new paint would not adhere well. We then decided to re-sand the
both sides from the transom. To the bow, from the gunnels to first chine, and re spray.
After completion of this, it was time to add the port wine strip above the gunnel, this was
done by again sanding this area with 240 grit, then tapping off the top section with fine
line masking tape to prevent the paint seeping under normal masking tape. We then
tapped off with 50 mm tape and paper.

Two coats of port wine were applied down the top of the gunnel as well as on the seat
base for the drivers seat. Next was the same process for application of the gray stripe
under the gunnel.

The colour scheme was chosen to match the existing maroon interior, and the Rae line
seat I ordered was upholstered in gray and maroon, and I had the passenger seat re-
upholstered in gray and maroon as well.

In addition to the seats being redone, we’ve added a built in tackle locker in the port side
near the transom, and replaced the starboard side fold down seat with a prefab door from
Bias boating.

During the re assembly process alot of care has been taken with re sealing all hardware,
fittings, and railings with sikaflex, to prevent any water leakage, as well as prevent any
damage. During the boats life someone has added the bow sprit, and relocated the main
bollard ontop of this, however no sealant was used. Hence over the years fresh water,
more than likely from rain has seeped through the hardware and into the ply under the
bollard on the bow, and has dry rotted the wood. I have repaired this with epifill, and
have put a SS backing plate under the hardware to distribute the load.

Other changes have included new tinted perspex for the windscreen, new battery boxes
and tie downs, additonal bilge pump in the pod.

To summ it all up, I have gone over my initial budget of approx $ 2,000, by about
$ 1,500 the time it took I had advised my wife would be 2 weeks and it actually took 6.

Was it worth it ? Well you be the judge, have a look at the before and after shots. I
believe it’s been money and time well spent, after reviewing upgrading to a larger or
newer boat, we would have spent alot more money than $ 3,500.00 and still would not
have had a relatively new 4 stroke outboard, and a 12 month old trailer. We have now a
near new boat, motor and trailer for less than 50% of what a new boat in this range would
cost. Not only that, but as many of you out there would understand, I did it myself
which is a great feeling alone, not to mention, I now know my vessel inside and out, from
bow to stern, should I ever encounter problems, on the side of the road, or many miles
from land, I’ll know how to fix it, and where it is.