We were a formerly happy couple trying to get the boat damage repaired after Charlie. Things were spinning along pretty well til we did the outside sanding to remove the "done in the islands" bottom paint. We felt proud empowered doing the inside fiberglass but this paint is soooooooooo hard to grind off. We first tried a 80 grit and an orbital but we would have died before we finished. The belt sander the autobody friend suggested would have put a hole through the boat. Have any of you any ideas-we need to put a two part barrier paint on and as we sand we sometimes find a peasize blister so we grind those down as we go. The stands pushed in slightly on one side due to the winds in the storm reversing so the boat slid to the side and the fiberglass popped back out. So the inside is fixed but the bottom seems to be unending. Is this normal or are we just woozes? PS What about the new bottompaints they advertise. We have the usual blue from West. Thanks for any ideas or comments--remember we're nearly suicidal so please be kind.
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getting at the bottom
Holly and David, So many owners - so many theories!!! Let me suggest one approach, knowing there will be scores of others. I truly believe that the decision to "do" a bottom is a question of how much time you are willing to "invest" now OR in the future. Do you go deep now and really do over your bottom so that future years will involve far less time in maintenance and/recoats . . . or do you do quick maintenance now and defer the deep work until later. Either way you will have to spend the time. My co-owner and I bought a boat with layers of old and patches of flaking bottom paint - and we were advised not to sand blast or blast with baking soda - because either can seriously damage the surface of the gelcoat - and "chemical" removal would have been messy, expensive, and time consuming. So, we ended up using a "Red Devil" scraper as a first whack. This took lots of elbow grease and helped remove lots of the paint, but not all, particularly around curves. Then we used an orbital sander with 60 grit being careful to avoid the gelcoat. The secret we found is to use a lot of fresh sandpaper - new sandpaper saves HOURS of grinding time and excessive force pushing the sander against the hull and, alas, bare gelcoat. (The fresh sandpaper has sharp edges on the grit that removes the paint fast and under control. If changing sandpaper every few minutes seems excessive, relate sand paper use in one hour to, say, a yard employee doing it for you at $50 an hour for labor but before supplies.) Our final step was to use a smaller sander that could sand down the final remaining patches with little to no gelcoat invasion - (use fresh sandpaper here as well - perhaps 80 grit). Do blister repair now - and you can see where all the repairs are needed at once. The surface of the entire bottom should remain rough (60 or 80 grit) to aid in the adherance of the barrier coats. We were advised by three separate professionals to add the first coat of bottom paint while the last coat of barrier coat is still in the early stages of curing - like two or three hours max . . . . so that a chemical bond between the barrier and bottom paint is attained. This assumes using an ablative paint, not a racing bottom. That process is completely different. We painted our first coat of bottom paint a different color - what we call a flag coat - so that as the outer coats of ablative starts wearing off, we can see when a new coat is needed. I think that paint product suggestions ought to reflect successful use in your home port or intended cruising waters. What works in Maine will not necessarily work well in Florida. Having said that, I have found over the years that better more expensive paint last longer than cheap paint and, in the long run, is actually more cost effective. So - consult your local marina operators and sail boat owners for product suggestions. Our 38' foot Morgan took eight or nine 7-hour days for the sanding . . . repairs took two days . . . and the painting was done over a three day period to allow for cure time - two barrier coats and three ablative coats. We expect this approach will last us five years or more before we might to consider sanding back to the flag coat. Hope the work you will invest will pay off in the long run! Tom
Holly and David, So many owners - so many theories!!! Let me suggest one approach, knowing there will be scores of others. I truly believe that the decision to "do" a bottom is a question of how much time you are willing to "invest" now OR in the future. Do you go deep now and really do over your bottom so that future years will involve far less time in maintenance and/recoats . . . or do you do quick maintenance now and defer the deep work until later. Either way you will have to spend the time. My co-owner and I bought a boat with layers of old and patches of flaking bottom paint - and we were advised not to sand blast or blast with baking soda - because either can seriously damage the surface of the gelcoat - and "chemical" removal would have been messy, expensive, and time consuming. So, we ended up using a "Red Devil" scraper as a first whack. This took lots of elbow grease and helped remove lots of the paint, but not all, particularly around curves. Then we used an orbital sander with 60 grit being careful to avoid the gelcoat. The secret we found is to use a lot of fresh sandpaper - new sandpaper saves HOURS of grinding time and excessive force pushing the sander against the hull and, alas, bare gelcoat. (The fresh sandpaper has sharp edges on the grit that removes the paint fast and under control. If changing sandpaper every few minutes seems excessive, relate sand paper use in one hour to, say, a yard employee doing it for you at $50 an hour for labor but before supplies.) Our final step was to use a smaller sander that could sand down the final remaining patches with little to no gelcoat invasion - (use fresh sandpaper here as well - perhaps 80 grit). Do blister repair now - and you can see where all the repairs are needed at once. The surface of the entire bottom should remain rough (60 or 80 grit) to aid in the adherance of the barrier coats. We were advised by three separate professionals to add the first coat of bottom paint while the last coat of barrier coat is still in the early stages of curing - like two or three hours max . . . . so that a chemical bond between the barrier and bottom paint is attained. This assumes using an ablative paint, not a racing bottom. That process is completely different. We painted our first coat of bottom paint a different color - what we call a flag coat - so that as the outer coats of ablative starts wearing off, we can see when a new coat is needed. I think that paint product suggestions ought to reflect successful use in your home port or intended cruising waters. What works in Maine will not necessarily work well in Florida. Having said that, I have found over the years that better more expensive paint last longer than cheap paint and, in the long run, is actually more cost effective. So - consult your local marina operators and sail boat owners for product suggestions. Our 38' foot Morgan took eight or nine 7-hour days for the sanding . . . repairs took two days . . . and the painting was done over a three day period to allow for cure time - two barrier coats and three ablative coats. We expect this approach will last us five years or more before we might to consider sanding back to the flag coat. Hope the work you will invest will pay off in the long run! Tom
just removing old bottom paint?
When I redid the bottom of Bietzpadlin I stripped the old paint from the hull with PEEL-Away it works great. But it is costly, caustic, and you MUST suit-up with gloves and rubber boots. A wallpaper scraper is the tool of choice in one hand and a water hose in the other hand. Be generous and patient and let the stuff do the work. Do your selves a favor and tint each coat (all four) of barrier coat epoxy with a different color so that you can see where you have been. Apply each coat as soon as the previous one is dry to the touch and apply the bottom paint within 24 hours of the last barrier coat. If you have access to a refrigerator place you brush and roller and leftover epoxy in the cooler to save it for the next coat. Ross in Bel Air
When I redid the bottom of Bietzpadlin I stripped the old paint from the hull with PEEL-Away it works great. But it is costly, caustic, and you MUST suit-up with gloves and rubber boots. A wallpaper scraper is the tool of choice in one hand and a water hose in the other hand. Be generous and patient and let the stuff do the work. Do your selves a favor and tint each coat (all four) of barrier coat epoxy with a different color so that you can see where you have been. Apply each coat as soon as the previous one is dry to the touch and apply the bottom paint within 24 hours of the last barrier coat. If you have access to a refrigerator place you brush and roller and leftover epoxy in the cooler to save it for the next coat. Ross in Bel Air
Bottom redux
When we took ownership of the Merry Bee a couple of years ago, I had the bottom blasted clean, since there was close to 1/8" of bottom paint built up there. Cost about $850.00, but sanding was NOT an option! I do have my limits!! ;d After the blasting, I filled any holes (if you have blisters, this'd be the time to address them), put on 2 coats of Interlux barrier coat, and added 2 more coats of WM bottom paint (within 24 hrs as previously stated). Now I know that we're good to go for a number of years. IMHO, sanding is: a) too messy: dust EVERYWHERE b) potentially dangerous - dust EVERYWHERE c) too easy to cut through the gelcoat d) just way too much work!!! Of course, that's just my opinion... Jim & Barb The Merry Bee M28OI
When we took ownership of the Merry Bee a couple of years ago, I had the bottom blasted clean, since there was close to 1/8" of bottom paint built up there. Cost about $850.00, but sanding was NOT an option! I do have my limits!! ;d After the blasting, I filled any holes (if you have blisters, this'd be the time to address them), put on 2 coats of Interlux barrier coat, and added 2 more coats of WM bottom paint (within 24 hrs as previously stated). Now I know that we're good to go for a number of years. IMHO, sanding is: a) too messy: dust EVERYWHERE b) potentially dangerous - dust EVERYWHERE c) too easy to cut through the gelcoat d) just way too much work!!! Of course, that's just my opinion... Jim & Barb The Merry Bee M28OI
Paint Removal
Bottom paint can be removed effortlesly by ether wet blasting or wet sanding using 36 grit disk on a 6 in da sander with a water type. Have done mine every time i hall out. So far I have 6 years on the bottom and no blisters and the paint stays on better. I have got it down that a paint job takes little effort if you do it right at the begining. You can get me at griffing@tampabay.rr.com
Bottom paint can be removed effortlesly by ether wet blasting or wet sanding using 36 grit disk on a 6 in da sander with a water type. Have done mine every time i hall out. So far I have 6 years on the bottom and no blisters and the paint stays on better. I have got it down that a paint job takes little effort if you do it right at the begining. You can get me at griffing@tampabay.rr.com
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