Gheenoe Refurbish Pt. 2 Floor & Topside paint.

Finally I have completed the Gheenoe Highsider. Since the last post I've sanded the whole boat, then painted the interior with Rustoleum Marine Topside paint. I primed the interior with rustolum primer before I added two coats of Rustoleum topside paint in semi gloss white. I then added a non skid addative in the final coat which is made out of a pumice type material. It came out surprisingly good, and is very scratch resistant.

 After painting the inside of the boat, it was just a waiting game untill i could flip the boat over and paint the hull. I put the 'noe on horses and sanded the whole hull. After sanding I applied a interlux primer.

 After sanding and appling more primer I final had enough base coat to apply the Interlux Brightside one part polyurethane in light blue color.

Waiting a full 24 hrs for the paint to dry, I completed the boat with two even coats of interlux brightside. After the paint was fully hardened I re assembled the boat, riveting the nose cap, rub rails, and trolling motor bracket back on. I had purchased a new trailer that fit the boat better as well as traded up from the 4hp Suzuki to a 9.8hp Tohatsu. With the new engine the boat will cruise at a brisk 20 mph, and top out at around 30mph. The gheenoe is finally complete and ready to get some fish slime on her maiden voyage.

Gheenoe Refurbish Pt. 1 Transom and Bench Repair

A common problem with older gheenoes and boats in general is the transom wood tends to rot. My Transom wood had rotten and needed to be repaired and strengthened. I first Stripped the boat of the rub rails, nose cap and trolling motor mount. I then removed the transom fiberglass and wood with a saw and hammer and chisel. Then I sanded down the reaming wood, glass, and gelcoat so that the new fiberglass  will be able to stick properly. I made a template with cardboard and cut wood out of high grade plywood. I then epoxyed the wood to the transom. Then filled the holes where the through bolts used to be were filled using a mixture of sawdust, fiberglass shards, and resin. After the holes were filled and hardened I Fiber-glassed the transom using cloth and resin.

I then decided to paint the nose cap and trolling motor bracket while the glass was curing.

After Painting I moved to filling the seats with expanding home sealant foam to add rigidity and flotation to the seats. I then sanded and glassed the seats to cover the large holes and some surface cracks.

Next I will put some more glass over the areas I have glassed already, then I will Paint the boat interior, and exterior. After Painting I will reassemble and she will be ready to go. Part 2 coming soon...

Welcome to my Blog, New Gheenoe 15'4" Highsider

This is my first post, I was an avid kayak angler and recently picked up a 1995 15'4" Gheenoe Highsider with a 4hp Suzuki DT4 2 stroke with internal tank and 44lb Minn Kota trolling motor.  I have fished out of it once and it is defiantly a perfect flats fishing craft. I have quite of bit of work I want to do on this boat to get it in top running condition. The first project I started was I scrapped the old glue off the floor from when the previous owner put marine carpet on the floor. I removed most of it but there is still quite a bit of residue I am going to have to sand off.


The next thing I'm going to do is redo the transom and reglass the two benches. Then I will paint the boat a Seafoam Green or a Sky Blue, and the decks will be painted a white or light gray. I also would like to upgrade the motor to a 9.9hp engine. 


Well here are the pictures of the boat the day I purchased it as well as a video of the boat running in a No Wake Zone. More to come!