Eyebrow Removal

[keneasley]

In the interest of preventing water intrusion, I removed the eyebrows from Felicity this past Summer.

The eyebrows looked pretty good and had a nice Cetol finish but there were some areas where it looked like water might get in and the cabin is made of wood-cored fiberglass. When I removed them I could see some wet/damp core near just a few of the screws.

First, I drilled out the bungs covering the screws and removed them. Then I pried off each eyebrow in one piece.

I drilled out the screw holes, chamfered the ends and taped the area around each hole.

eyebrows_1.JPG (1.61 MiB) Viewed 1033 times

I filled each hole with thickened epoxy and let that firm up a bit then covered each hole with MarineTex White.

eyebrows_2.JPG (1.9 MiB) Viewed 1033 times

After that set a day or two I scraped off the Marine Tex roughly flush to the cabin and then sanded with 220, 400, 800 grit.

eyebrows_3.JPG (2.32 MiB) Viewed 1033 times

Some acetone was used to remove the traces of the adhesive tape and then some final wet sanding left a pretty good looking result.
One has to look closely to see the small white circles where the screw holes used to be.

eyebrows_5.JPG (526.18 KiB) Viewed 1033 times

I'll need to paint over it because Marine Tex will not stand up to the sun over time. I'll paint a stripe in blue to match the sail cover or in white to blend in with the cabin top. Another option is a decal stripe.

It wasn't that difficult a project and took only a few hours. One less thing to varnish and one less chance for water intrusion.

I'm open to suggestions on painting or other means to protect the Marine Tex from the sun. The covered holes are so small it seems a shame to have to paint on new eyebrows but I don't see another way to have it all blend in after being painted.

[jfischgrund]

Thanks for the step-by-step. I am thinking of removing mine and you make it seem quite doable. And it looks great. Thanks!

[Jim Walsh]

I would go with a decal stripe. It’s available in many colors and widths and I think it just looks good. The purpose of the eyebrow is to fool the eye and make the deckhouse appear lower which is a good thing on most designs. Your boat looks great!

[gonesail]

the eyebrows are a pain the butt .. but i'm not sure i will remove them from my boat. if you had rotten wood then it was a good idea.

[John Stone]

Great job Ken. I removed the eyebrow strips during our six year rebuild. Lots of water leaks. 28 holes filled. No more leaks. I also think it looks better.