Boston Whaler is an iconic American made brand that most experienced seafarers know of and it comes highly regarded. Our customer found this old hulk lying in a backyard totally neglected. He is a die-hard fan of these boats and asked us to undertake the restoration of this rough diamond. The first step was to strip it down of all gear and fittings. This included removal of the engines, fuel tank, cabintop, windscreen and deckgear. At first glance we noticed that there were problems with the gelcoat, more so under the water where there were spots lifting everywhere you looked. We put this down to original build and perhaps some kind of contamination. So once the boat was up on stands, the antifouling was removed, all the areas where ground out and in some places glassed up but mostly filled with epoxy filler. Prior to the original antifoul being applied someone had prepped the surface with a grinder and made a real mess to the surface so this was also filled and much of the underside faired and then primed. The topsides also had the same issue with plenty of repairs before the same process was applied. The owner wants the topsides painted in a dark blue so a grey primer was applied for this. Underwater we have coated with ‘Coppercoat’ epoxy antifouling because the boat will be kept mostly on a mooring. You may have seen other Coppercoat jobs we have done, this is a revolutionary product which can give up to 20 years of life below the WL. Up top we are waiting for the new stainless fuel tank which is custom made to fit below the aft deck floor. Much of the back cockpit area has been repaired where required and will be faired and primed once the new back deck is fitted. Self draining aft scuppers will be installed along with a custom back bench seat and table. We are waiting for a new Felk trailer which the boat will be loaded onto and the work above WL will then be completed. We will keep you updated on this project as it progresses.