Bottom Paint Clarification

[colb218]

Hello everyone -

I hauled out this weekend. My wife and I sanded using a 5" cordless random orbital and a 5" DA sander both with 80 grit discs. All told we spent between 7-8 hours actually sanding. I do not believe we had any blisters, but we did have a few spots where the previous paint had flaked off. I spent some extra time sanding there to try to fair out the area. My first question is should I apply a primer to these areas? Also through the course of sanding we found a Phillips head screw in our keel. I recall the previous owner telling me he had installed a bolt that he would remove if the boat was kept on the hard over the winter. What should I do to cover this bolt now? just paint? Lastly, should I tape my thru hulls? They were painted over previously.

Thank you for your help!

 

[dlochner]

Paint the through hulls, marine flora and fauna will grow on the thruhull as well as the fiberglass.

If the bolt is in the keel sump and not the lead keel, then it is likely a garboard drain plug. This allows any water that accumulates in the bilge while on the hard to drain. It is worth investigating this more as it looks like there are raw glass fibers around the bolt. That's not so good. It looks like the bolt is just screwed into the fiberglass. If this were my boat I'd want to install a proper garboard drain. Like the one below.

Departments - PERKO GARBOARD DRAIN PLUG BRASS WITH WRENCH

Perko Garboard drain plug. Cast bronze flange, brass plug with 1/2" x 1/2" square zinc plated steel wrench. Pipe size: 1". O.D. flange: 3-1/8". Uses four #10 screws.

shop.hamiltonmarine.com

 

[colb218]

Paint the through hulls, marine flora and fauna will grow on the thruhull as well as the fiberglass.

If the bolt is in the keel sump and not the lead keel, then it is likely a garboard drain plug. This allows any water that accumulates in the bilge while on the hard to drain. It is worth investigating this more as it looks like there are raw glass fibers around the bolt. That's not so good. It looks like the bolt is just screwed into the fiberglass. If this were my boat I'd want to install a proper garboard drain. Like the one below.

Departments - PERKO GARBOARD DRAIN PLUG BRASS WITH WRENCH

Perko Garboard drain plug. Cast bronze flange, brass plug with 1/2" x 1/2" square zinc plated steel wrench. Pipe size: 1". O.D. flange: 3-1/8". Uses four #10 screws.

shop.hamiltonmarine.com

thank you for the information! I will definitely be taking a look!!

 

[Tally Ho]

That screw head photo looks a bit scary to me (but I cannot see the location…so maybe not as bad as it looks).

As @dlochner said, it appears that there is raw glass and a void below the screw (red circle) and I don’t know what immediately below the screw head (green circle).

Greg

 

[rgranger]

Regarding sanding the bottom paint, I used to post on here, a recipe for homemade peel away…but I have since realized that easy off oven cleaner is essentially the same thing. Next time you need to send an area try instead …spraying that area with easy off oven cleaner and let it sit for a day. then spray it off with the pressure washer you’ll find the bottom paint just flakes off.