The day Anthony buys a used Searay 220 Sundancer, his wife comes aboard and, upon discovering that the ceiling of the cabin is covered with unsightly waves, she pulls on it to rip it off. At this point, Anthony has to start all over again on this boat. He will refurbish it and then motorize it with 2 electric motors .
American style boat finish with carpeting throughout
The Searay 220 Sundancer is less than 8 m long. Her cabin includes seating in the forward triangle, a galley on the port side facing a toilet on the starboard side (just below the cockpit). Under the cockpit, there is a mid-cabin with a double berth.
Traditionally, American yards tend to carpet everything. This is the case with this Searay. So Anthony starts pulling it out everywhere: on the ceiling, on the floor and on the hull. He ends up with fiber that appears under a layer of glue still adhering to the resin. He will have to scrape everything off.
To do this, he tries paint stripper with a spatula. It works, but it forms balls that are difficult to get rid of. Finally, it is with a wire brush mounted on a drill that he will get rid of this nightmare.
Impossible to reduce the time, you have to sand!
Then comes the time for sanding to obtain a cleaner finish. However, the contact polyester construction requires the surface to be coated.
Then comes the putty phase. For this, Anthony (car mechanic) will use body filler. A polyester filler that he buys for 14 euros a kilo - much less than the same product dedicated for the marine. Fortunately, because he will use almost 10 kilos of this product for the whole boat. But as he says: " In the end, there must not be 10 kilos left on the hull, considering all that I sanded "
In the next step, he applies a primer paint. Here again, he buys from automotive dealers. He uses a self-filling body primer. And for the final coat, it's a utility car paint, a slightly off-white that gives a shine directly without going through an additional coat of clearcoat.
Car paints applied with a spray gun
All these paints were sprayed. Probably not the best idea for the lungs when working in a space as small as a boat cabin: " In spite of the mask and the protections I was wearing, I came out all white, even in my hair! The cloud of paint projected in vapor goes everywhere. Before I started painting, I did a test with gelcoat, but it didn't work well in my gun and gave a grainy look. "For the furniture that remained in place, Anthony took care to mask them well beforehand.
Deck panels with integrated fans
Then comes the phase of reassembling the equipment. Anthony decides to create 2 openings on the deck to equip them with fans: " These are models that can be found in the motor home. They can work in both directions, either in extraction of air or in reverse to push air inside. So when I leave the boat, I always position one that pushes and the other that pulls. So I have a forced air circulation. And the inside of the boat is always clean and dry. No more condensation. "He also took advantage of the construction site to replace the marine toilets with an electric model. An uncle called to the rescue will make him the cushions for the saloon.
Inside and outside
After painting, he starts to lay a fake teak on the deck and in the cockpit. It's a long job, because he has to cut the panels to make the surrounds. The product found on the internet comes with a 3M self-adhesive film: " I thought it wouldn't be sturdy over time, but despite my regular Karscher cleanings, it hasn't come off. "
It is difficult to talk about the total cost of this restoration since it is added to the unloading of the Mercruiser Essence and the installation of the electric motors . But Anthony still speaks of a sum of 15 to 20,000 euros all inclusive. And yet, the young man likes to understand to provide himself with the best rates.
