1978 20 Master Angler Restoration

[1bayouboy]

That's gorgeous.....

[willydewitt2]

Thats some damn fine paint work. Your MA is looking mighty nice. You've done some great work. I can't wait to see the finished product. Great color combo also. Is that Ice blue AwlGrip? I have to do my transom sometime in the future. What do you think of doing it from the outside? Is it a bad idea? I have sealed and thru bolted my cap to my hull every four inches and it is solid as a rock but would be a big job to remove the cap, so I'm trying to do the transom without disturbing to much of what has already been done.

Makes me wish a did some more prep work instead of being so impatient and wanting to splash down so quickly.

[GradySailfish]

Your rig looks awesome as well. I know the feeling about rushing a job to splash. I kinda rushed some things on my MA to get her painted before the winter. I researched your project before I did mine...I think you used AwlCraft 2000 ? If so you can wetsand and buff the finish to your desire. But from the pictures your paint work looks excellent...I also like the color As you know immitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

The paint is actually Imron, but mixed to be as close to Awlgrip Ice Blue as possible.

Today, I did the deck with Moondust Awlgrip and grip tex. I gotta put another coat on, then pull the tape.

Doing the transom from the outside is perfectly OK, but you might also want to look into raising the transom 5 inches...thats what I did as per recommendation of others on this site.

If you don't want to remove the entire cap, you can try and cut the cap a few imches behind the wells (looking towards the bow), and just pop off the part of the cap which will give you access to the transom.

AVK

[gofastsandman]

Gonna pull the hatch this weekend. I`m tech challenged, but will take pics and post w/ help. The core was a bear to remove from the 2 forward covers..... Thinking It might be wiser to make a new one
Both boats look great . And the color choice is classic. How about some `57 Bel Air trim on the gunwales? Just kidding. Beautiful jobs
GFS

[GradySailfish]

You gotta post some pics ! It will help us better understand what your project looks like. Also, if you want to turn multiple hatch covers into a single solid unit, like I did to mine...then by all means make a new cover...it will save you time AND look better.

Strick did a great job with his tank coffin cover.

[gofastsandman]

I will mumble, stumble,and bumble through the pics.

My `89 sf was in remarkable original condition overall. No bottom paint, solid deck and transom or so I think. Orig gelcoat and decals. Think it must have been dry stored most of its life.

GFS

[GradySailfish]

So, well anyway, I figured I'd post some updates as to what I've been up to lately. After spending every minute of my free time working on the boat for all of late september and october, I fished november and december while Raybo did the paint work on the Sea Craft.

I was also busy with winterizing the Grady and the usual holiday stuff. The past few weeks I made some headway on the SeaCraft. Since the Grady spends her winter in the main garage I purchased a 10*20 shelter from Pep Boys for $ 179 bucks and I think it was an incredible deal. The shelter is great and becuase its a rather dark sandy color it when its sunny out it stays about 50-10 degrees warmer inside. So thats where the Sea Craft lives now.

I cleaned up the bottom and sanded it smooth. I then painted the bottom with a black conventional bottom paint and topcoated that with 2 coats of Petit blue Hydrocoat ablative paint. I know I'm going to get flogged for bottom painting, but keep in mind guys, the boat will live in the water from mid March til mid-December. It might come out of the water if I take her on a trip somewhere, but other then that, 9 out of 12 months she will spend wet.


I don't have a good bottom paint picture, I'll take one tomorrow, but you guys get the idea. BTW the boat was just washed in this picture so, thats why the bottom looks streaked.


I also did the non-skid. Originally I was going to use Durabak, but after doing quite a bit of research I decided against it. It seems like there's a 50/50 split between people who like it and those who don't. I didn't want to take a chance so I bought some Awlgrip Moondust and griptex. The deck was already primed to all I did to prep was lightly sand it and wipe it down. First I rolled on a base boat of Awlgrip, then I sprinkled the grip tex onto the wet paint. Let it dry and the next day I vacumed off the excess griptex and top-coated with more awlgrip. It came out great, I think its a good mix of texture being that it has plenty of "non-skid" but still not too rough to catch too much dirt and become hard to clean.

BTW, like I said before, the pics were taken just after washing the boat, so thats what the water is doing all over.







Anyway, I figured I'd post something worthwhile. Here's one of the Grady in her garage. I have to get cracking on her to splash. New thru-hull fittings all around and some new wiring.

[billythekid]

keep up with the good work and the pics keep some of us motivated! looking really good cant wait to see it finished

[tunaorlater]

Alex, She ready for opening day of flounder season?

[GradySailfish]

Hey guys...we're getting there. Anyway, its been a while since the last update but here it is. Over the past couple months I rebuilt/modified the console by raising the upper portion of it to accomodate flush mounting electronics and accessories, I also didn't really care for the short stuby look the old console had. I need to dig up some pictures of that process, but it was the basic, glass, grind, fair sand stuff we're all used to.

For the final stages of the project I moved the boat from her project garage to my driveway, here are pics after the motor was hung, rigging and wiring 90% completed, new rear doors fabbed out of black plexi.

I also used the original bow rail, it was in rough shape but I cleaned it up, sanded, primed and painted it with white imron. Originally it was an experiment to see if I would like it....and I do !

Also did the rubrail saturday, which although only took a couple hours really changed the appearance of the boat. I need to give Raybo big credit for suggesting I go with this particular rubrail...it was easier to install then the soft rubber I used in the past, and it looks phenomenal.
















After I took these pics I wired the GPS/Sounder, VHF, bilge pumps and finished making the last black door for the bow. I'm still waiting on a swtich panel and a new small windshield. If neither of these come by wednesday, I think I'll dunk and run the boat anyway, even if it means running some basic functions of temporary swtiches ! []