brant II sculler maintenance

L

len hawkins

Member
I have been doing some long needed maintenance on my old (20 plus years) LSB scull boat. I have sanded down the deck to get rid of the old oxidized finish (paint and gel coat?). I have the deck pretty well stripped down, but when i looked at the bottom hull, it appears to have alot of spider webbing. It isn't cracked through, but what would be the best preventative maintenance? Should it be sanded down and a fresh layer or two of gel coat be applied, or could it/should it just be given a coat of resin, or even a coat of paint?
I would plan on getting it prepped over the winter (sanded), and doing the repair in the summer.
 
I have been doing some long needed maintenance on my old (20 plus years) LSB scull boat. I have sanded down the deck to get rid of the old oxidized finish (paint and gel coat?). I have the deck pretty well stripped down, but when i looked at the bottom hull, it appears to have alot of spider webbing. It isn't cracked through, but what would be the best preventative maintenance? Should it be sanded down and a fresh layer or two of gel coat be applied, or could it/should it just be given a coat of resin, or even a coat of paint?
I would plan on getting it prepped over the winter (sanded), and doing the repair in the summer.
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Len,
The spider cracks your talking about are only in the gel coat. Gel coat is not as flexible as the fiberglass hull is and cracks will show up over time. The Brant II gets it's strength from it's flexibility but that's a little hard on the gel coat. Easy solution......sand it down and shoot a coat or two of paint on it. .........been there, done that. ;)
Do not "paint it" with a coat of resin.
If you had abused it and wore away a bunch of glass...then you could lay down some glass with resin but that would be the only reason. Holler if you have any questions.
Lou
 
Lou is absolutely right here. Spider cracks in gelcoat is pretty normal on boats and especially on lightweight ones that flex. Many people don't realize that flex is a good thing rather than bad. you can sand those areas down and give it a shot of paint if they bother you otherwise leave them they wont effect anything structural at all.
 
Lou,
I have the same problem with mine except it leaks in the keel. The boat is 25 years old and has been pulled across a lot of different surfaces to get to water. It's about a four inch spot. I filled the boat with water and watched it leak out in that spot. Will this require matt to repair?
Thanks
 
I'm not a pro boat builder by any means, but with my Brant II, and my Delash sculler I've simply filled chips and dings with Napa Fiberfill. You just sand and feather down the fill, smooth. Then I do the whole hull in Glovit about every other year. I sand her clear down, tape and wipe off all the dust with tack cloth. I roll it on, then brush out the streaks and lines. Glovit is the stuff our NW driftboat guys have used for years. It protect's their boat hulls sliding up and down the rocky rivers and creek's steelhead fishing. I have yet to have a rock scratch clear into the glass. It dries smooth and big time glassy.-Seth
 
That sounds exactly like the kind of repair i was hoping for - sand and paint.
Lou, any chance you have any of the shelves for the old brant II's? Many years ago when i assembled the boat, i ran out of adhesive and rivets- well, the next year i moved west and never installed them. I half ass looked in the old shop at my folks, but never found the shelves. It would sure be nice to install some after all these years.
 
Lou,
I have the same problem with mine except it leaks in the keel. The boat is 25 years old and has been pulled across a lot of different surfaces to get to water. It's about a four inch spot. I filled the boat with water and watched it leak out in that spot. Will this require matt to repair?
Thanks
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Rod,
I had exactly the same situation with my personal B-II some time ago. I'd loaned it to a friend who towed it up North on his trailer and he didn't snug it down properly and it bounced around and rubbed against a piece of metal the whole way up North and back. I didn't find out about it until Gene & I were sculling on the river and noticed a lot of water in the boat.......doh. We beached it, drained it, shoved stuff into the holes and continued sculling.
When I got back to the shop, I used 24 grit paper on a grinder and peeled the keel down all around the holes (tapering the grind) and feathered it out a ways. I then used polyester resin & chopped strand mat (2 oz.) and re-laminated the keel, finishing it off with a final layer of cloth after I'd built it up. A bit of sanding to fair it in and a coat of paint took care of it.
You could do the same repair/build up using epoxy & cloth also.
Holler if you have more questions.
Later partner,
Lou
 
That sounds exactly like the kind of repair i was hoping for - sand and paint.
Lou, any chance you have any of the shelves for the old brant II's? Many years ago when i assembled the boat, i ran out of adhesive and rivets- well, the next year i moved west and never installed them. I half ass looked in the old shop at my folks, but never found the shelves. It would sure be nice to install some after all these years.
Click to expand...

Hi Len,
Yes, I still have all the molds around and we can lay up a set of shelves/ammo trays for you. We have the rivets also. Email or PM me and we can get it set up for you.
Lou
duckguylsb@juno.com
 
Len
On the bottom of the hull you can use boat building epoxy. For nicks and gouges I use epoxy will bonding additive to fill and build-up areas that need repair. Then I give the bottom a coat of epoxy and paint it. There is no problem with epoxy as long give any area a good sanding first.

.
 
Wow, talk about customer service. A 20 plus year old boat and you can still get parts! You will put those shelves to good use. Lou, I put your boat to the versatility test the last 2 days of the southern Michigan season. We pulled the sculler 3/4 mile across ice to an open hole. The young man I took shot his first Can. We had quite a mixed bag. Canvasback, Bufflehead, Goldeneye, Bluebill, Redhead and Mallards. The last day, Sunday evening, we slid the sculler into a creek and set 8 Goldeneye blocks. We shot 2 limits of Mallards in the wind and snow. Thanks for the advice on the repairs. It will be a spring project.
Rod V
 
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