Hi all.
Got in the last 2 bits to finish the keel, under the cabin floor and under the Loo:
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That let me get in the front and rear floor bulkheads. Again good ol' Marine Ply, glassed in place and just waiting for the weather to clear so I can get the fuel tank floor, cabin and cockpit floors in and glassed.
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Then the fun part begins - fairing and painting.
Not 100% sure how I'm going to do the deck non-skid.
The 1st boat I restored and which set me on my way to becoming a boat builder, was a Caribbean Concorde in the late 80's. It was a 23'er with a 228 Mercruiser. Not particularly fast, but a great solid boat that was desperate for a paint job when I got it.
Not knowing any better, I masked off the original non-skid and literally painted around it.
The original gelcoat was darker than the new paint colour, so the contrast worked out quite nicely.
I saw the boat years later, and couldn't help thinking how good the darker non-skid still looked.
And it was obviously the factory non-skid, which is always preferable to that sprayed on stuff...
I'm thinking of doing the same with this boat, but there is a lot of discoloration in the gel coat.
If I can get the "black spot" out of the gel coat, it may well be a viable option.
The other consideration is the finish of the floors in the boat.
I don't want to get caught up too much on this build. The idea was a quickie for my eldest, but of course, it is turning into an epic.
I was thinking a simple flecked gelcoat finish, but fairing the floors properly and adding gloss boarders and non-skid inserts to the Mustang added less than 2 extra days...