Repairing an old Herter’s V-Hull

I’ve came into possession of an old Herter’s 17’6″ St. Lawrence model V-Hull boat fiberglass tiller steer that I would like to repair to make a nice fishing boat. The transom and cast aluminum parts look good. The fiberglass has a few patches on the outside, but otherwise looks good.

I was thinking of taking it to get painted and have a rhino lining put in it to make it a nice little fishing boat.

Looking for any opinions from guys who have fixed up older model v-hull’s and what they have done.

You can easily repair and repaint the boat yourself. Before you start, you should decide how much money you want to put into the job. Quality marine paints are expensive ($80 to $240 per gallon). Many workboats on the East coast are painted using quality exterior house paint. It works, but you will need to repaint every year.

– If you want, the exterior “patches” can be removed and you could repair it properly for a nicer appearence

– Boat painting with the newest marine paints is really easy to do. There are a lot of choices. With today’s paints, one can get near professional results with a paint roller and a natural hair brush. This is known as the “roll and tip” method of painting. Interlux Perfection is a 2 part linear polyurethane designed for the do it yourself painter. It is solvent based (need some ventilation!) and results in a very nice finish. System Three (www.systemthree.com) has a water based 2-part linear polyurethane that is also very easy to work with. The System Three paints have a semi-gloss finish unless you apply their clear top-coat.

– The paint job is only as good as the prep work. The hull needs to be thoroughly cleaned with a solvent to remove any old wax residue. You can fix any imperfections with a “fairing” product (you can buy or mix yourself). Prime the hull with one or more coats of primer from the manufacturer of the paint you selected. Apply the top-coat.

– Rhino lining has some pluses; hides imperfections, water proof, and non-skid. The big negative is the weight. It is heavy. Too heavy in my opinion for a small boat.

The website for the makers of West System epoxy (www.westsystem.com) and System Three epoxy/paint (www.systemthree) have a lot of useful information. The Interlux website has a boat painting guide (www.interlux.com).

Good luck with your project!

Dan

I have a sherwin-williams book and they do sell marine grade paint. you could also go with a 2 part epoxy either in oil or latex. both would advise to have some if not alot of ventilation. I would go with the latex epoxy for longer bucket life before it hardens. but if you shoot me a PM, I can see what my discount at sherwin would save you for marine paint.

shane