Just bought a '58 Skagit 20 Express...

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Looks good Kelly, I'll keep an eye out for the Peelaway. Might be in storage on San Juan?

is that a surveillance camera? Let me know if you need any help or advice?

Cheers,

Tim

[Kelly]

Hmmm, so I'm liking what I'm seeing! It's definitely hard work, but the results look promising though I still have the bottom half to start on...which will be the last thing I get to. I really wanted to see how the burgundy buffed out so I did a little test spot. Can you spot it? (ha!)

More glory shots:

[Kelly]

Evidence is there for sure....there is a plan to pull the floor but not sure how soon that will be.

[Bflaherty]

After "restoring" my grandmother's vintage canoe I can testify that dunking will only hint at what is really in there... Mouse skeletons/bodies won't fit back out the plug hole... I got impatient after a week of flushing and drilled the rivets to remove the bow cover....... I found half the bow flotation block removed to make room for three separate nests that all had 1-3 dead bodies in them! They got in by squeezing thru a 3/4" gap at the keel, ain't no way I would have flushed the bodies from the top nest back out that tiny hole.

If you are seeing evidence of critters flushing out you should probably plan to pull the floor and clean it all out or you'll forever be fighting the stench of death and rotting flesh!

[Kelly]

I've also been "dunking" the bilge of the boat to clean out what may be living or dying under the floor between the stringers. I leave everything strapped down and the plugs out and back the boat into the water and fill it up until it's nearly above the floor at the transom. Then I plug it and take it away from the water and away from anywhere the dirty water could run back into the lake. Then I pull both plugs and watch the crap flow out...seeds, shells, nest, etc... I pick up what's not biodegradable and do it three more times until the water comes out clean. Sure it's not the ideal way, but that's what I did to see what's going on under the floor.
Here's a small glory shot while soaking in some sun and water...

[Kelly]

So, challenge accepted...for now. Yesterday I gave it a go with the Citristip and started on the easy part aka the part that didn't look like too much effort to remove while standing comfortably. After experimenting with how long to leave the stuff on, I've realized it's like making a pancake. When the "bubbles" appear on the surface, it's ready to remove. On this particular paint, that is a minimum of 1 hour and that's removing two coats of paint that were painted on 20 years apart. As of now, I'm happy with what I'm seeing but realize this will be a lengthy journey to bring this boat back to 90% factory original. We'll see how long my patience last...

[bruceb]

Kelly-
The man standing next to the boat is Cole Cummings, sales manager for Skagit. His son Cole jr still lives in Anacortes. Checked your earlier pics of the boat, built-in fuel tanks like this boat in pic. Express model same as yours. The gunwale is the darker color like yours, all the areas match with the scheme of your boat. Then consider the shade of the gelcoat in the b&w picture- lighter than black. Could be red or burgundy. Some might see a deep shade of blue. BINGO -My guess is you might just have that boat !!! Neat that you've connected that all up ! The pressure is on- make it like it came from the factory, Kelly....

[Kelly]

I wonder if this boat is burgundy? If so, I wonder if I possess this very boat? Tim how about some photoshop

[bruceb]

Kelly-
Cool, burgundy....the factory did a lot of experimenting, and if it's burgundy, I might be able to guess why it was ultimately changed. The gelcoat material of certain colors does oxidize. My burgundy is only decent looking for two days before it's noticeably faded, and that's using a marine quality carnaba wax.
Maybe Brian or John have experience with gelcoat covered by a clear gloss polyurethane with beefed up UV protection ? Does that work ? Otherwise time and effort would be saved by covering gelcoat with burgundy marine paint.
Ohhh, yeah, that's a real nice bow light and flag staff !!!

[Kelly]

While on a mini vacation I "just happened" to find this little fresh water only gem and picked it up for a song and dance. I'll admit though, I can't sing or dance but I got a great deal on it!

Might have to see how it looks on the Skagit.

[Kelly]

Kelly-
Going to guess the plate you found may not have to do with a Skagit build plate, never seen one like that before. As for the color combo under the surface on your boat, have found other "mystery boats" with similar paint/gelcoat. There's this one 20 express we found near La Conner with a red/burgundy under white on the hull,(almost looks like a primer) with white gunwales and light blue cabin top. Inside, has an identical scheme as my cabin with gray paint and burgundy gel coated trim panel wrapping below windows. Clint Strobel has a 20 express that looks like the factory painted over the original colors with gel coat. Over time, owners change colors on these for numerous reasons, saw a friend's boat's colors, wanted to match a towing vehicle, or perhaps some other reason..
Then I'm attaching this cool 57 17 express from Tacoma that is a color scheme (original gelcoat) similar to what you've found on yours- gives you a nice idea of what it might look like, I like it.....first two pics- same boat ! Last pic- Tacoma boat
Finally, only way I might do that removal is very careful sanding to remove outer layer, very time consuming, boring work ! then more time consuming use of graduated paper to polish it up to final gloss. Using Brian's process, super great write up, there.

It's definitely gel coat and more maroon than red. I've looked at the bottom of the hull and it's showing several signs of maroon as well.
Hope to strip it down soon.

[Bflaherty]

Steve, that's excellent news for the rest of us!! Thanks to ACBS revising their "classic" standards and many reputable vintage/classic boat dealers across the country starting to push classic glass boats, our boat values are finally starting to go up!! We need the value of restored glassics to get up to where it becomes financially equitable to restore these old boats. We are still at a point where most folks look at their old glassic and decide to chainsaw it rather than restore cause they aren't worth enough to come anywhere near breaking even... Now an unrestored/neglected P-14 for 3k is nuts but if it's been well cared for and totally usable than why not ask 3k??

[Steve_Kiesel]

Thanks Helmar. I'm always checking and following the forum. I will chime in when I have something worth while to offer. I'm still eye balling the old glassics whenever I see one. For some reason most boats I see here in Central Oregon are priced at three times their value. Must have something to do with the thin air (4300 ft). Just seen a P14 for $3000.00 today. Yikes!!!!

[Helmar]

Here's the stuff I used on the Seafair. Works okay. Just not a fun job removing old paint no matter how you do it.

http://www.citristrip.com/

That sounds like what I used too....

Good to see you in here Steve !

[Kelly]

I'll reach out to Tim.
Thanks Steve, it looks like I can buy that at Lowe's.