Bad Bottom Paint Job

[Levin]

Rich,

You make some interesting points, execpt for the fact that the paint I used was not ablative. It was a hard paint (Proline 1088C-01) to be exact. So it shouldn't be a buildup of ablative paints. In addition this is only the third paint job this boat has ever had... so I doubt that there could be that much buildup.

Beyond this if there was a problem coming out of the mold from the factory shouldn't I be seeing paint comming off all over the boat? Or does this not happen?

Any additional thoughts on this would be helpful as I need to know as much as I can when I go back to have my boat inspected by them.

Thanks again,
-Levin

 

[RichH]

A positive answer would be gained by taking or removing one of the large flakes and sending out to a materials or coatings lab for analysis ... costly.

You might want to contact the paint mfg. and see if they can analyze (for cost) for the 'best' answer and to minimize possible wrongful conjecture.

Water based vinyl paints (from my very limited and narrow experience) seem to have a high historical failure rate ... adhesion problems.

 

[Levin]

Rich and others,

I have another question about this mold release problem and improper set-up from the factory that some of you spoke about. I think this is the same thing that the owner of the boat yard was wanting to blame my paint flaking on, which means it is important for me to understand this better so I know what to look for when the boat is pulled out.

If I'm following correctly it sounds like this happens when the mold release agent is not properly cleaned away from the fiberglass hull after the boat is pulled out of the mold before it is first painted. Which would mean this should only affect the fiberglass bits of the boat right? (the keel and strut weren't in the mold, they were added later). Which would then mean if the only place it is flaking is the keel and strut this is definitely a boatyard problem right?

Just want to make sure I understand this properly so I don't get taken for a ride when I go back to have my boat pulled out.

Thanks so much everyone,
-Levin