I would recommend caution when pressure washing the boat. There is a chance that with too much pressure, and being too close to the surface of the glass that you could lift some of the gelcoat. My guess is that if it is extremely oxidized, then the risk is higher. Steve ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve R." <stever707@mail.saabnet.com> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Cc: <kdocter@bellsouth.net> Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 8:36 AM Subject: M_Boats: re: Kendall with more info
Kendall,
Good luck with your project. I am sure everything will turn out well.
One thing to be concerned about in pressure washing the cockpit is the only drain is the opening for the centerboard pendant. You may spend more time clearing debris from the drain than washing. With the CB removed it should go better. If I were in you situation I would think about plugging the drain somehow and periodically bailing with a bucket.
After pressure washing the fiberglass I would suggest wiping down with acetone. Just make sure you have some ventilation, especially if you will be on the interior.
To each his own, but I have removed the plywood that covers the porta-potti and the cushion insert that goes on top of the plywood. I suggest you finish everything else and go sailing to see if you need those or can live without them.
The plywood for the hatch boards is 3/8 inches thick, IIRC. A few years ago Tod M., Bill W. and I split a 4' x 8' sheet of teak faced ply from Boulter Plywood in Mass. They rough cut the sheet into four small pieces for each of us, which gave us enough for a spare. I think since Bill and I had a 15 our pieces were 30" wide and the ones for Tod's 17 were 36". The cost of cutting was not much and it really saved on shipping. They allowed us to pay separately and shipped directly to us. Maybe someone would like to split a sheet with you.
I can trace the patterns out for my hatch boards but it may be a few weeks before I can get around to it.
Let us know how everything turns out.
steve
Steve R. M-15 #119 Lexington, KY
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