Hello All,

My name is Jay. Been cruising around the board for awhile and Mike just got me dialed in. Thanks Mike! Look forward to hangin' around.

Picked up "Secret Spot", a 1983 23' Billfisher from Larry back in November and have spent my few spare minutes each week doing some clean up work. Nothing major yet, still putting plans together and didnt want to tear too much up right before the season. Decided to change her name to "Blackbird". Larry lives just around the corner from me and names all of his boats "Secret Spot". I couln't have the neighbors thinking he owns every boat up and down the block. Really, the name just kinda came to me as I've been working on her. I'll be sure to have the proper re-naming ceremonies upon first launch. Also, I found while working over the gelcoat her first name was "Mi Amigo". Just wondering if anybody had any old pics or know any history.

Started a thread on B.D. a while back asking for tips to remove the epoxy bottom coat that needed help. I'll post some of the shots from the thread and continue with the rest of my progress here as I go.

This is what it looked like:







I tried the Back to Nature paint remover with no results. I left it on waaay longer than I should have and it didnt do a thing. Next, I tried the Interlux 299E marine paint stripper. After 8 hours the gel coat looked like it was beginning to tack up and the epoxy didnt budge.



More pics to follow