Are there others out there that think the barrier coat is not mandatory? We are new boat owners and we are in the process of having our boat stripped of many old coats of paint (all the way to the gel coat). In addition, I have been reading from various sources on the internet. I keep seeing statements that barrier coats may not be required, but are a good preventative. The fella doing the bottom has done many boats before and has examined my hull and found no signs of blistering - past or present. He says there is no need to put a barrier coat on unless there are blistering issues. He says my boat will probably never have a blistering issue if it hasn't had them by now. It is a 1983 Hunter 30. Fresh water sailing and sits in the water for 6 months at a stretch. Gets hauled out for winter. He says put VC17 on it and enjoy the boat. What do you think?
Barrier Coating
- Thread starter pcacj
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Your guy is probably correct. If it hasn't happened yet, it probably won't happen.. I have owned two boats, both have had minor blisters. One (1978 model) started blistering after about 4 years and the other (1985 Hunter) started blistering after 8 years. One of those "luck of the draw" things.. Count your blessings and ENJOY..
I have owned 5 used boats over the past 30+years and none have had barrier coats. None have had blisters. I think that a boat's propensity to develop blisters occurs when the hull is being laid up and cured. I further believe that if you have boat that is 10 or more years old that does not have blisters, the chances of it developing blisters is pretty minimal, particularly if you take care of it and haul it out on a regular schedule. While osmotic blisters deep into the laminate can be a serious problem, I have not seen very many in such condition after walking a lot of miles in a lot of boatyards. I'd take my chances if I were you.
I took my '85 hull down to gel coat 6 years ago - planed on barrier coat, but is was cold wet winter and it probably needed to sit a while and dry out. The boat was new to me and spent the first 6 weeks of ownership in the yard. I wanted to use the boat real bad, so I just bottom painted. No blisters then and nothing at haul outs since then. In salt water year round and hull has never moved out of area where it was delivered new.
Then there is the satisfaction and peace of mind of having a barrier-coat. If you are taking it down to gelcoat then an epoxy finish is cheap insurance. I stripped my H37C to gelcoat and applied six coats of Interlux 2000E(I think) in 1999. Last October I had a yard sand off most of the accumulated hard paint prior to my changing paints to an ablative. Bottom was smooth and fast. Like they said, not necessary though.
If you take the time and money to take all the paint off, why not put two or three coats of Interlux 2000 on as both a primer and barrier coat; you're never going to take it down this far again. I put the barrier coats on a brand new 1986 Hunter twenty eight five and have never had blisters but feel the barrier coat was good insurance; created a good substrate for a racing finish and will be a plus when I do sell the boat.
I had a new Catalina 36 in '97 and opted to not put barrier coats on. Guess what - got lots of blisters. What a pain to hassle with the manufacture to get it corrected. When I bought my new 44DS the first thing on the spec sheet was barrier coat. Never a problem and great peace of mind - well worth it
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