Removing old vinyl stripes

It was time to get rid of the old UV damaged red stripes on the topsides of the hull. We tried several methods to remove it. Heating it with a heatgun, using aceton and some glue residue remover, but there were several layers of vinyl stripes on top of eachother and non of these methods worked, the stickers were disintegrating into very small pieces and it would take forever to scrape them off.

Old UV damaged stripes

The only way we found to be effective is sanding it off with rubber disks on a driller. We used up 8 rubber disks during the process and tried two different types, the one with stains and the solid. The idea was that the stainted disk produces less heat and will not burn the gelcoat, but it didn't really matter. The cheapest disk does the job well too and the gelcoat didn't get burned. The whole project took at least four days for two of us with two drillers and we were exhausted.

We found the original red gelcoat to be in a fairly OK condition, there is a color difference in the middle though due to an old white stripe.

We're considering two options now as a next step during off season. To wet sand and polish up the old gelcoat and if there is still a big color difference add a new white stripe in the middle. Or paint the whole thing with a new 2-component topcoat.

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New ventillators and smoke detector

Three old ventillators have been replaced last weekend as they were falling apart due to UV damage and the brittle plastic. We could get the exact same type of ventillators, so we went with those. No new holes to drill and hopefully these will do the job for another 10 years. I was also considering changing them to solar vents, but I haven't read too good reviews about them. They're usually much bigger (need a bigger hole) and according to many they tend to die after a year or two (either the battery or the fan motor gets loud) and doesn't worth the extra price tag. We're going to add some regular 12V car fans inside before we sail to warmer climates. We already have a gas/propane alarm in the galley and now I also installed a battery powered smoke detector. Very easy and no drilling required, it's held in place with velcro strips.

Bilge reinforcement - Part 2

Read Part 1 After careful surface preparation the bilge reinforcement project continued with laying the new laminate. I consulted with West System on what fabric to use and they suggested biaxial cloth without chopped strand matting. The biaxial cloth is very strong and CSM would just add weight. We bought 600g biaxial cloth with 45/45 degree strands from Composite24 and West System 105 epoxy with 206 fast hardener at a local marine store. Cutting fabric The work was done in sections, we started with the bilge bottom while the keel nuts and washers were removed. It got 4 layers that come up 10cm at the bilge sides. This area gets most of the load and we wanted to reinforce it by connecting the fabric on the bottom to the fabric layed on the sides. 4 layers on the bottom In theory these types of reinforcements are suggested to be done either with the keel dropped or while the keel is hanging so it's not compressing the joint while the boat is standing on th

Scanmar bilge and swinging keel

The Scanmars, at least the SC33 and SC35 that I'm aware of, are infamous of developing a swinging/pendulum keel due to the lack of structural members in the bilge that could prevent the hull from flexing sideways at the hull to keel joint. Here is an article (in Swedish) that mentions this problem (svajköl) and here is another one from a surveyor who claims it's a weakness in the construction. The "stringers" on these boats are only floor beams, that are not going down deep enough to the bilge to act as a structural element. If the boat had harder groundings the attachments of the floor beams could delaminate from the hull, making the hull-keel joint even weaker and the swinging keel symptom worse. When we were on a boat hunt we've checked out almost all the SC33 on the market at the time and paid attention to how their bilges looked like (and in the end bought a SC35 without reinforcements 😄). As the bilge on the SC33 and SC35 looks very similar, I thoug

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