GP14 advice

[Nessa]

Although the two boats we have are both grp they do have some wooden biys which need attention. On both boats the floorboards need repainting and in both boats the previous paint is silver. What is this stuff, should I sue it again, can I paint over it?

How easy is it to remove the wooden thwart and seats to then take them inside to be dried and worked on? Any hints and tips? Presumably G$ would be good for this, once I have stripped them down?

Any other knowledge I need for prettying up these beasts?

[Garry R]

G4 is perfect for removable floorboards. Have used this on Gannet with a sand sprinkle and a top coat and the grip is great.

I took the seats/thwarts out of the Enterprise very easily - I don't think they even had used glue and they are inside being varnished/drying as we speak but as they had been varnished before and were in a good state I rubbed down and have used Blakes Favourite as it was spare! The decks though are back to wood and G4ed and will be varnished. What you see in my Ent pictures on the floor posted earlier in the week is G4 on the new panel and on the inside of the hull - 3 coats and that may be all it gets.

[roger]

Nessa you shouldnt need to take the thwarts out to remove the floorboards. On my geep you can wriggle them out over the transom.

[Rupert]

On the old GRP GP's I used to sail in Aberystwyth, the seats and thwart could just be unscrewed and removed for varnishing. In fact, it was where most of the leaks came from into the tanks, where they had been put back with no sealent! They were probebly an older vintage, though, being late 70's.

[Nessa]

Thanks chaps. I have indeed wrestled out the floorboards and they are now in the building site that is my dining room. I shall now proceed to remove thwarts and seats - I hadn't thought about the sealant aspect, but that makes perfect sense.

G4 is the business. It didn't occur to me to use it for the floor too.

What do you think drying out times should be? (in my dining room)

[Michael Brigg]

Given the number of boats finding their way into the house from the garage I would calculate that 'er indoors must be near incandescent by now, so drying times should be quick!!

Actually it might be a good idea to use a dehumidifier as the warmth is less important than the ventilation/dryness of your dining room. If as seems probable you have to keep the door shut if you want any kind of civil conversation in the rest of the house, the wood won't be getting much airflow over it.

[Nessa]

she has weakened her position by going to Switzerland for a week without me. Besides, the dining room really is a building site - we had an internal wall taken down a couple of weeks ago.

[Pat]

Besides, the dining room really is a building site - we had an internal wall taken down a couple of weeks ago.

Sounds like our room - half a wall missing where the fireplace should be - and been like that for a year. It's the perils of being a builder's missus!
Have managed to keep the boats out but I've used the space to make a couple of covers, sails regularly get spread out or dried indoors, rudders get brought in for re-stringing and there's always a pile of kit and chandlery in there after a visit to the Dinghy Show or the Boat Jumbles.
Does everyone else find their hobby creeping in to the living space?

[Nessa]

I am hoping it will still be a building site when she goes away for the week. I reckon that with help and some careful manoeuvring i could get the Marauder in through the conservatory doors.

The GPs are sail numbers 9168 and 11099. How old does that make them, and more importantly, do they qualify for cvrda status?

[Nigel]

we had an internal wall taken down a couple of weeks ago

Sounds like poor planning. If you had taken out an external wall it would have been easier to get the boats in

[JimC]

The GPs are sail numbers 9168 and 11099. How old does that make them, and more importantly, do they qualify for cvrda status?

I remember sailing 10538 around 1974.

[roger]

Nessa G4 uses moisture to dry so dont worry about the dehumidifier and you should be able to get two or three coats on in quick succession.

As for the age of the boats the geep website has a table which shows sail number against age. If I remember correctly my boat 8530 was built around the mid 70s

[Nessa]

I have spent the afternoon creating the franken - geep - mast - monster. The boat from Devon turned out to have a mast bent like a banana. Fortunately there is a GP in our graveyard prepared to donate its unwanted mast to a good cause, so I have been transferring shrouds, forestay etc. The main halyard just needs a clam cleat, but I'm going to have to make a new wire jib halyard - or would one made from that fancy rope stuff I bought for contender trap wires do the job?

[Ancient Geek]

It would; but for a boat that is going not to coddled wire would be far better, we have just been allowed new fangled rope backstays and runners in Dragons and one regatta in they are already proving a pain; abrasion, UV damage and (Albeit minimal.) creep being just three problems, if you use galvanised wire you have an early indication of trouble with the appearance of rust and it's cheap.

[Nessa]

I agree. It might have to be rope for tomorrow, then I can get lengths etc ready to construct the wire version. I am going to thi stress and trouble so that two would be Dinghy Instructors can practise aft facing tacking ready for their pre assessment because they have hardly ever sailed such boats. A true sign of the times.

Does anyone know the length of GP spinnaker sheets?