Hello, I moved up to 22' MacGregor from a Flying Scot 3 years ago. I don't know much about bottom paint, other then what's available on the West Marine web site. The bottom paint looks good considering it's got three seasons on it, only I've got a few quarter and Half dollar size spots where the paint has fallen off. The paint is red in color and chalky to the touch? I have no idea what kind of paint was applied by the previous owner. I'm guessing it an inexpensive Mod Epoxy or Albative paint. So my question is Can I just patch/ fill in the bare spots and just put another coat on or do I have to clean all the good old paint off and start from scratch??? Any good free advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Ron
A little help w/ Bottom paint
- Thread starter liberty22
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Don't mess around, just paint the whole thing..... If you're going to store it on a trailer, use ablative.... which you can put over just about anything. You don't have to completely strip all the paint off. Just follow directions on can...
Most ablative paints are not inexpensive as they are mutli season. If you have paint falling off in spots, my guess is the problem lies in the preparation - or lack of it. Those spots might not have been sanded to a frosty finish so that the paint has tooth to adhere properly. You can make it look good when you first paint it on, but if there is no proper tooth, then it will fall off later. Look back in my earlier posts and read my article on bottom paints for an understanding of them. It might be helpful in paint selection. The other thing about ablative multiseason paints is that the paint and toxicant leach away from the hull the same time (unlike single season paints where the paint stays on the hull and the toxicants leach away). With multiseason paints, you will see bare spots eventually, which means it is time to repaint (or touch up). The nature of multiseason paints is that you don't get a build up of paint through the years as you do with single season paints.
Thanks for the replies. Yes the boat is sailed in fresh water. Launched in late May and pull out in October. I think I'm going to go with West Marine CPP Plus Antifouling Paint. hit the bare spots with a little paint and then recoat the bottom.
That'll work fine..... you'll find that bottom painting your boat is one of the easiest chores if you do it regularly... I would suggest buying a quart of one color, then a gallon of another. Put the quart color on first, then apply the remaining coats of the gallon color. When the top layers wear down to the first color you'll know it's time to paint. A 22 foot boat won't take a lot of paint. I can paint my 27, fixed keel boat two coats and some extra on the rudder with one gallon.(and that's with thick, modified epoxy paint)
BTW.... the comments made by barnacle bill regarding "multi-season" and "ablative" are not familiar to me. It sounds as if you've done enough research to know the difference between ablative, copolymer, modified epoxy, etc... if you are unsure, check valid sources such as the West Marine Advisor. Google is a great tool for finding technical sources quickly and should be used to confirm some of the information found here.
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