#153 Lastochka

[Vrongel]

Hi guys, my name is Alex, I'm 17 and recently bought an Investigator.

Born in a port city in Russia,(apologising in advance for my bad English as it is my second language) now living in Sydney, I have been fascinated by boats from a young age and always wanted to have some sort of vessel, whether it be a tinny dinghy or a big yacht. This year, motivation struck me to get a boat and the path took me to getting an the #153 Investigator which is going to be named to "Lastochka" The Russian word the swallow bird.

I had bought firstly because I wasn't picky on what boat to get and the investigator was at an affordable price ($1150) and in floating condition giving me something to work on after my HSC. Secondly, I liked the fact that as mentioned in the "#90 Tikirri is back!" topic:

Wanted something sleep-able for overnight or several night stays with room for some scuba and metal detecting gear which the i563 certainly has a lot of for its size

I had bought the I563 to also learn how to sail as I really like the sailing concept "Sailing is the most expensive way to get somewhere for free ". I have absolutely no knowledge on sailing but I'm very keen to learn and get experience and plan to be sailing around in the Sydney region including Hawksbury river.

Thank you on having me in this amazing forum, it will most likely be my main source of knowledge for the Investigator project.

[Ozzie]

Welcome Alex so good to see young people interested in sailing and restoring old boats. I’m sure you will have no shortage of advice and well wishes from members enjoy your boat

[Vrongel]

Thanks once again!

Yea, it was sold as the previous owners where not able to look after it anymore due to their age and it was left on the mooring without any care for 2 years. It was pretty cool as it was a bit like a time capsule, opening the hatch cover for the first time in years.

After towing it to the nearest boat ramp and getting it home, I gave it a good pressure wash and scrapped off all the 2 years worth, or more, of the barnacles.

Here are some before and after

A very scary surprise.. half rusted full fire extinguisher

After scraping of the barnacles, it revealed damage in the outer most layer under the waterline.
Does anyone know how to repair this?
I am also planning to give it a fresh coat of paint and for that i have already taken everything off from it.

[Ozzie]

Amazing how a pressure cleaner can remove years of age. Mate I think it all looks good A bit of elbow grease and it will come up well. I’m sure David have the best advice on the hull repair. When we bought Spritzig, after pressure cleaner we used cheap gumption paste to polish the finished fibreglass sections and then a good boat polish. The rough surfaces got one coat of white oil based undercoat and two coats of Dulux Weathershield gloss, which we touch up occasionally.

You can use specific fibreglass products inside as well, as David has mentioned in previous posts and would be better in water prone areas like the bilge however for normal surfaces the other treatment has worked well for us and doesn’t create a lot of fumes inside the boat while you are working. Also cheaper. Keep up the good work. Are you going to trailer or moor the boat?

[Raya]

Welcome to the forum. You certainly got a bargain and it amazing what a good clean up will do. Number 153 has featured on this forum before so you should be able to track a bit of it's history using the search function. She was originally called Sherlock, then became Eve before being renamed Xenophen.

Enjoy learning to sail.

[CALDI4]

Hi Alex, Cal here yes I owned #153 many moons ago and it was a mooring minder without a trailer when I bought it. I repaired quite a bit of it and painted the hull blue in two pack. Sad to see it was neglected again I have sent you an email with my phone number happy to chat.

I also owned #111 'Missy' which I believe is in Manly Brisbane now

Cheers Cal

[Ozzie]

Comprehensive assessment David. Would it need the full treatment for trailer use only ? Obviously if it is to be moored, no question. I’m just wondering given Alex is probably dealing with limited funds if he could do just a local repair as per your previous post to get him on the water rather than the whole boat.

[Ozzie]

No offence taken David. We share a range of opinions on most things on this forum. I would certainly not try to override your years of experience in the biz or research.

My only advice to Alex would be that the unfinished interior surfaces above the waterline, which have already been pressure cleaned inside the boat, but still appears to be discoloured will probably remain that way and only get more difficult to clean in time. Given they were marketed this way one assumes the designer considered this finish sufficient from a waterproof perspective but after a long period of inattention on a mooring it’s hardly very serviceable. Consider my treatment easier than marine carpet which many have done.

17429F6A-3B61-49EE-9DE7-A312AA2D1533.jpeg (11.28 KiB) Viewed 3129 times

From our experience of two moored vessels over 30 years the technique I’ve described has worked fine to keep the surface shiny and easy to keep clean of mould. As I said in my post, bilges, as per your advice are better off with boat specific coatings and I’m certainly not suggesting external use of Weathersheild on our boats or over properly finished fibre glass and if my post was interpreted that way it’s unfortunate.

[Vrongel]

Hi all, especially David and Ozzie

I recently had an owner of a Top Hat Mk2 come over to ask about my I563, turns out he is also my neighbour and would also gladly help out
He assessed the hull bellow the waterline and talked about osmosis, telling that it is more recommended to redo the whole lower hull laminate , just as you were saying David.

There were no doubts that I have to redo the whole barrier coat/gelcoat bellow the water line and a few cm up.

How would it be recommended to lift the boat off the trailer to work on the bottom, or should i keep it on it?

[Vrongel]

Hello all!

During this lockdown here in Sydney, I spent quite a bit of time on my Investigator. Firstly I have put her under the carport and have sanded most of the deck (top half) as well as the sides of the hull. I am now trying to sand the lower half, below the waterline. O have been getting rind of the paint with a few tools; sander for more smaller jobs, angle grinder (with a sanding disc)for fast jobs and digging out defects in the outer layer to osmosis and a heat gun with a paint scraper to scrape off the outer blue paint. During all of this I have encountered a few problems:

1)The below the waterline black paint feels quite rubbery and the sander as well as angle grinder has a tough time getting through. I can scrape it of using the heat gun however I was wondering if I can remove paint using a paint remover? Will it damage the outer layer? (3rd photo)

2) While sanding the hull and opening up all defects in the outer layer such as cracks, it became apparent to me that I have no idea what is applied on the fibreglass. I will send an attachment of a photo of the transom where the outer layer had been removed to get to hair cracks surrounding the through hull. Can someone, who knows what those layers are name them and what to use to fill in the "outer layer" (1,2 photo)

Thanks in advance