November 24, 2021

Surface Prep, Sponge Media and the Miss Ellis Island

The Miss Ellis Island is one of the boats that carries passengers from the New Jersey-based marina across New York Harbor and onto Ellis Island. Getting ready for the busy summer tourist season includes conducting maintenance on the ferries, and this past year, the Miss Ellis Island was due for some much needed recoating on the walkways and decks.

Daniel Gabryszewski and his crew from NJ Reliable Coatings were tasked with the surface preparation and recoating the lower deck of the Miss Ellis Island, but the job did not come without major challenges. The deck’s non-skid coating was very well adhered, and over 70 mils (1778µ) thick.

“The existing coating system that was covering the steel substrate was very thick; however, rust was bleeding through. We had to break up the rust in many areas with hammers. We tried to prep the substrate using hand tools and needle guns and neither method was working well to remove the existing coating. We had five guys on the job, it was very labor intensive and very slow-going,” said Gabryszewski.