[Rhodes22-list] Maintenance

[Bill Effros]

Leland,

I find I'm not comfortable sailing until it hits 55 degrees.

Wichinox makes a very good stainless cleaner and protector.  Very little 
stainless maintenance once you start applying this stuff.

Use your power washer only to knock the living creatures off the bottom 
of your boat immediately after hauling.  Paint right over the old 
paint.  Use ablative paint. 

Wax everything above the waterline after pulling the boat to protect it 
over the winter.  Clean off the old wax first with Collinite cleaner.  
Put Collinite wax where you won't slip on it.  One coat is all you 
need.  Use a tackier wax elsewhere.  Put on 2 coats if you have time.

Bottom paint either fall or spring.  The paint goes on sale in late 
winter.  I stir with a power drill.

Strip off the remaining winter wax with Collinite cleaner in the 
spring.  Follow the same waxing routine. 

Your boat will look like new year after year if you follow this regimen.

Bill Effros





Leland wrote:
> Just put At Ease back in the water last week and it's been killing me that I
> haven't been able to go sailing yet.  I told myself I wouldn't go out unless
> the temperature was above 45 degrees and the wind was less than 20 knots. 
> Maybe I just need to wear more clothes.
>
> Question:  I have a new Marina and new slip.  When the marina tied up my
> boat, they secured the spring lines to the winches instead of the cleats. 
> We get some pretty strong winds (40 mph this morning).  Is this a bad
> practice or am I worrying over nothing?
>
> As a new boat owner, it's amazing how much I've learned over the last year
> from this list and a little bit of experience.  Makes me wonder how much
> more I don't know.  Boat maintenance had some surprises.  Had no idea that
> stainless steel required maintenance.  To remove a year's worth of grime on
> the fiberglass, my powerful powerwasher could only handle about a two-inch
> strip at a time.  It would have been faster to paint the whole boat. 
> Speaking of paint, no one told me that if hard bottom paint is out of the
> water too long, you have to repaint the bottom.  Or if you don't use a paint
> can shaker, it takes as long to mix up the copper sludge as it does to do
> the actually painting.  And the fumes!  $300 for paint and labor doesn't
> sound so bad now!  And don't even get me started on that piece of junk 9.9
> Merc!  I thought you guys were joking about using it as an anchor!
>
> On the bright side, I now have ten months of sailing ahead of me before I
> have to go through this again.
>
> Lee
> 1986 Rhodes22  At Ease
> Crab Alley (Kent Island, MD)
>