Sanding, thru-hull removal, rudder repair, fiberglass work, and painting. All the fun I had while hauled out.
I bought Sigla bottom-unseen. The previous owner had a rough idea of when it had been out of the water last, but not many details. She didn't come with a trailer, so after an unsuccessful attempt to haul-out on a club trailer for a peek at the bottom, we forged ahead anyway with plans to haul-out over the summer.
At the end of June, we successfully hauled her out on a larger club-owned trailer. First impressions were promising. After a power wash of the bottom, I was even more encouraged. There appeared to be no major bottom issues, and really, not many minor ones, either.
Before and after a power wash.


The rudder had a few digs in the top edge. But other than that, no blisters noted and no major damage.

While I was hauled out, I decided I needed to fix the infamous PVC elbow issue. I first had the idea to just replace the elbows with TruDesign versions. However, once I started the work, there were some unforeseen caveats. Ultimately, since they both had to do with pumping waste overboard, I decided to remove them and fill the holes. I'll do a more detailed blog post on plumbing work.
Here's the outside work. I used polyester resin, 1708 mat, and chopped strand mat.




These did get a barrier coat, just didn't take a picture. With that done, I sanded the entire bottom (in August...in Kansas). Not a comfortable job, but I did wear a respirator and goggles (full suit was out of the question).
I decided to drop the rudder and do the repairs at home since it would be a multi-day process. I chipped away the defect area and used Great Stuff to fill the area at the top.

After sanding down to bare glass in some places, I noticed some cracks.

I decided to go ahead and lay up some glass on these (and tie it in with the foam repair where I could). I used 1708 and chopped strand with polyester resin. The next steps I had to complete in a hurry, so I didn't take pictures along the way. Basically, they were fiberglass, sanding, fairing, sanding, epoxy barrier coat, then ablative paint. I didn't have white ablative paint (the preferred color, I know), so I painted it blue to match the bottom and kept it covered with a white drop cloth once I reinstalled it to prevent it from heating up and deforming.
Here it is along with my new magnesium anodes (the preferred metal for freshwater) installed on the shaft and strut.

Here's the bottom with the painting all done. I also got rid of the most the brown waterline stains.


Yes, I had to leave stripes where the bunks are. Yes, it bothers me. I've made peace with it because I didn't really have a choice as this was my only haul-out option that wouldn't cost me $1000+.
As for materials used... Davis FSR to remove the waterline stains. TotalBoat for my fiberglass resin, fairing compound, barrier coat, and (Spartan) bottom paint. I was happy with the results and everything seemed pretty easy to work with. Being a complete novice, I didn't really have anything to compare it to. I guess time will be the ultimate judge.
I bought Sigla bottom-unseen. The previous owner had a rough idea of when it had been out of the water last, but not many details. She didn't come with a trailer, so after an unsuccessful attempt to haul-out on a club trailer for a peek at the bottom, we forged ahead anyway with plans to haul-out over the summer.
At the end of June, we successfully hauled her out on a larger club-owned trailer. First impressions were promising. After a power wash of the bottom, I was even more encouraged. There appeared to be no major bottom issues, and really, not many minor ones, either.
Before and after a power wash.


The rudder had a few digs in the top edge. But other than that, no blisters noted and no major damage.

While I was hauled out, I decided I needed to fix the infamous PVC elbow issue. I first had the idea to just replace the elbows with TruDesign versions. However, once I started the work, there were some unforeseen caveats. Ultimately, since they both had to do with pumping waste overboard, I decided to remove them and fill the holes. I'll do a more detailed blog post on plumbing work.
Here's the outside work. I used polyester resin, 1708 mat, and chopped strand mat.




These did get a barrier coat, just didn't take a picture. With that done, I sanded the entire bottom (in August...in Kansas). Not a comfortable job, but I did wear a respirator and goggles (full suit was out of the question).
I decided to drop the rudder and do the repairs at home since it would be a multi-day process. I chipped away the defect area and used Great Stuff to fill the area at the top.

After sanding down to bare glass in some places, I noticed some cracks.

I decided to go ahead and lay up some glass on these (and tie it in with the foam repair where I could). I used 1708 and chopped strand with polyester resin. The next steps I had to complete in a hurry, so I didn't take pictures along the way. Basically, they were fiberglass, sanding, fairing, sanding, epoxy barrier coat, then ablative paint. I didn't have white ablative paint (the preferred color, I know), so I painted it blue to match the bottom and kept it covered with a white drop cloth once I reinstalled it to prevent it from heating up and deforming.
Here it is along with my new magnesium anodes (the preferred metal for freshwater) installed on the shaft and strut.

Here's the bottom with the painting all done. I also got rid of the most the brown waterline stains.


Yes, I had to leave stripes where the bunks are. Yes, it bothers me. I've made peace with it because I didn't really have a choice as this was my only haul-out option that wouldn't cost me $1000+.
As for materials used... Davis FSR to remove the waterline stains. TotalBoat for my fiberglass resin, fairing compound, barrier coat, and (Spartan) bottom paint. I was happy with the results and everything seemed pretty easy to work with. Being a complete novice, I didn't really have anything to compare it to. I guess time will be the ultimate judge.