My original thread is closed, but I wanted to thank everyone who replied with advice and report on our long-delayed and even longer overdue bottom job.
My friends and I hauled out our 1975 Catalina 27 this October at Berkeley Marine Center. The folks in the yard at BMC were fantastic. They helped us choose the right equipment to sand and paint our bottom (what we'd planned to do) and helped us give our topsides a major freshening up.
On the advice of several members of this forum (thanks!) I chose Trinidad Petit SR and bought 5 quarts. That was enough paint for us to apply 2 full coats plus a third along the waterline, rudder and the leading edge of the keel.
The boat really looks great. We acid washed the topsides with On/Off. That turned our stained and yellow gel coat a bright white. After the acid, we filled several deep scratches with epoxy and covered them (and some smaller ones) with a white topside paint. After that, we wet sanded the topsides to blend the touchup paint and to remove some grey streaks the acid left behind. Finally, we buffed the whole hull with a marine rubbing compound and finished with a thick polish. We also replaced our worn green stripe, with a much more fitting blue.
Thanks again to everyone for the help!
My friends and I hauled out our 1975 Catalina 27 this October at Berkeley Marine Center. The folks in the yard at BMC were fantastic. They helped us choose the right equipment to sand and paint our bottom (what we'd planned to do) and helped us give our topsides a major freshening up.
On the advice of several members of this forum (thanks!) I chose Trinidad Petit SR and bought 5 quarts. That was enough paint for us to apply 2 full coats plus a third along the waterline, rudder and the leading edge of the keel.
The boat really looks great. We acid washed the topsides with On/Off. That turned our stained and yellow gel coat a bright white. After the acid, we filled several deep scratches with epoxy and covered them (and some smaller ones) with a white topside paint. After that, we wet sanded the topsides to blend the touchup paint and to remove some grey streaks the acid left behind. Finally, we buffed the whole hull with a marine rubbing compound and finished with a thick polish. We also replaced our worn green stripe, with a much more fitting blue.
Thanks again to everyone for the help!
