Several years ago, for one reason or another, I had to hire a truck to move my Grand Banks trawler Betty Jane halfway across the Florida Panhandle. Besides offering the old girl a ride that made her the fastest displacement craft in the Sunshine State (at least during the high-speed portions of the trip) and thereby giving her the thrill of her life, the project meant I had to remove a lot of hardware from the flying bridge to meet highway height requirements. Once Betty got to where she was going, of course, the hardware had to be rebedded and secured. And to do this, I used one of the oldest bedding compounds known to man—Dolfinite, a product that I hereby endorse heartily. Oh yeah, I know. You’d rather use a modern polysulfide product for your bedding chores, or a polyurethane, or heaven forbid, death-grippy 3M 5200—anything rather than a can of old-fashioned, petroleum-based goop with the color and consistency of peanut butter. But lemme tell ya. The stuff skins over and becomes absolutely waterproof, it remains flexible underneath for years, and, if you ever have to discombobulate the pieces you’ve squished together (which is highly likely, given the decompositional nature of boats), it’s flat-out easy. And what’s more, Dolfinite stays useful (i.e., goopy) in the can as long as you tap the lid on tight after using it. Try some.
$36; www.pettitpaint.com
