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Hi everyone,
This Spring a good friend of mine gave me his old and tired 17' whaler hull. After a little research I found it was a 1972 16' Cohasett II. Since it being given to me I purchased a used 2003 90hp merc (mercaha) 4-stroke, and sanded down the hull and painted it using Petit easypoxy in Ice Blue. This as far as I went with the resto because it's July, and I wanted to start using the boat with the idea being to finish up this job in the winter. I really want to go through this boat, has anyone here ever cut the deck out of one of these?? how do you test/repair for water intrusion in the hull/deck? I appreciate all the help, i have included some pictures below. Also if anyone has any questions about any of the products ive used/work ive done so far I would be more than happy to answer.

here is the link to my photobucket album where you can see some pictures:
http://s569.photobucket.com/albums/ss...fintuna39/

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Hey Joe,
I'm in the process of restoring a 17 Montauk. Gonna give her a Fighting Lady Yellow awlgrip paintjob, but I have used the easypoxy before inside cockpit lockers on the 53' Jarrett Bay I run out of Wrightsville Beach, NC. How is it holding up for you? I had problems with the paint discoloring after 2 seasons.
BTW, that's a nice rig you tuna fish with... Topaz? Sure looks like the original Topaz lines- sexy!

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I painted my 15 (shown on personal page) about 8 years ago with fighting lady yellow awlgrip. It holds its color and is very tough.

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Yep, thats my families 1989 39 topaz, we had that redone in 06... shes awlgripped ice blue as well.
The easypoxy certainly is no where near as durable as awlgrip, it looks great, and it was easy for me to learn on as this was my first foray into rolling and tipping. this winter I think I will paint it again using either perfection or awlgrip, i would like to use awlgrip but ive heard its much harder to work with. thoughts?

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I thought it was a classic Topaz. They were a solid well built rig and those that have been reworked still look better than most production boats out there! They just got the lines right... nice teak touch too, not your usual clorox bottle production boat.
Awlgrip 2000 is the way to go. Not nearly as hard to work with as standard Awlgrip, although not quite as tuff, but the fact that you can buff spray or roller/tip imperfections out more than makes up for that. And it is blendable so repairs are easy with a $50 airbrush gun from Harbour Freight. I have repaired many bill and gaff marks on the transom and you can't tell it even from 12" away.

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Joe,

The best way to check for interior water is to remove as much non essential gear from the boat and weigh it on a commercial scale. Of course you will have to subtract out the estimated weight of the motor and a few other items, but you should get a pretty good idea. Of course you will need to get the weight of your trailer as well in order to subtract that. After it's all said and done you should be looking to get to approximately 850 pounds. Best of luck with your new boat.

Matthew

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Congrats on the new boat. I have a 1972 Cohasset II as well. You will find that you really love the wide open deck. It's a real simple boat that looks great with the teak and chrome.

The item most unique to the Cohasset II is the console. It was only used one other boat (I believe a 19 Outrage) for a year or two. The battery will fit in it and leave room for a fire extinguisher and a little more. The storage up top is better than any other console in my humble opinion.

Whaler allegedly switched to a wider base console because this podium can get a little loose. It has horizontal screws bolting it to wooden block risers that are attached directly to the hull. Mine was loose somewhat but it's an easy fix, just wood filler in the blocks. Replacing the blocks if needed would be a pretty easy job. Any repair of big damage to the deck would be beyond my experience.

Water intrusion thoughts can drive folks crazy doing more harm than good. Search around and you can see where folks drill holes in the hull to slow drain, etc. If the boat floats at a good level compared to other Classic 16'7" hulls with a similar weight motor, then I would not investigate with a drill first. The best place to start is an item that needs checked anyway. The brass drain tubes in the transom. They can corrode inside and need replacement in a 30+ year old boat. (Not bad for an old boat!) They are also right by the transom wood.

Search brass drain tubes and there should be several articles.

Other than that, you will be amazed at the simplicity, seaworthiness and effectiveness of the boat. You can take all the teak off with a screwdriver in an hour or two (including instrument panel depending on your setup). Then sand and refinish it with multiple coats in a week (or have a buddy that is better than you at it and pay him like I did!) and the boat looks new.