Guys,
I am restoring a very early A Class catamaran. This one was mostly sailed at Bendigo Yacht Club but has not been wet for 15 years.

This has left the tortured ply very very dry with areas of the ply delaminating.

I am not a wood worker to any degree so am after advise on fairing and sealing these long hair width cracks in the outer veneer of ply.

Thinking of applying bote cote resin then fairing/sanding until there is a smooth surface.

I also have to contend with a thick layer of poorly applied paint of unknown type.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Jeff

Many years ago I had a similar problem with a Mosquito cat. At the time I applied cheap hardware store resin and cloth over the affected area. This seemed to fix the problem.

Now that I am much more experienced with WEST, I would use that. Personally, I would still look at adding some cloth, maby even as light as 2 oz. I am sure Boat Cote would also work.

I am sure there are much more experienced people on this forum that may have more insight.

Jeff,

You should strip off to old paint , before you do anything, , A QUICK STRIP disc, on a Grinder will remove paint without taking the timber, or you can use a chemical stripper.,

DO NOT USE RESIN FIBER DISCS ( Sanding discs that fit the angle grinders), these are too aggressive and will damage the timber.

Once the hulls are stripped you can see any repairs that need to be done, fill any gaps/splits , with a mix of resin and micro balloons ( mix to consistancy of mayonnaise), and use a 75mm plastic scraper to apply .

This will fill any small splits / gaps , and will sand well , leaving a smooth finish, then a layer of glass & resin, once this cures another layer of the resin & micro balloons , sand and then paint.

Jeff
vk4