I inherited a 17' Sea Nymph fishing boat from my Grandpa. I grew up fishing in this thing, and spent so much time with Grandpa, that I wouldn't consider selling it for 10 times what it is worth. I got the thing in '99 when he passed, and I used the next couple of years. For the last 10 years, it's been parked behind my garage, and I did NOTHING with it. I'm ashamed, and if Grandpa could see it, he'd kick my butt.
I towed it out into my driveway, and I'm getting ready to fix her up. The first issue I wanted to ask about, is cleaning the tarp that's on it. It has a sort of moss-like growth on a lot of it, and it is stiffer than it used to be. It is however, still waterproof. What is the best method to clean/refurb this thing? It's custom made so that it goes over the boat and all the accessories just right.
Second question is about painting the beast. It's so sun faded that the aluminum is showing in places. Could I just hit it with some sand paper and rattle can it? I don't want to do anything to disturb the rivets. I also thought about using bedliner on it. I'm only going to paint from the top edge down to the waterline. I was concerned about how much weight that would add. The boat is already pretty heavy.
I'll post some pics up when I can. She's nothing like the boats everyone else has on here, but I get a little choked up thinking about taking a grandchild of mine out onto the lake, or river. My Grandpa tought me an awful lot those years, in that boat. A lot about fishing, and a lot about life.
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