bottom paint

[Mark]

Hi,I have an 1972 O'Day 23'. I'm tackling my boat's needs and maintenance as a DIY and umm, I need advice!I've got my rudder in my small "workshop" at home. The bottom half of it has a chalky black coat on it, with spots of red and even white underneath. I have been told that the chalky black is the old anti-fouling paint aged over time. But what is the red? underneath, the primer? The entire bottom coat looks like this on the boat. I'm testing out my abilities on the rudder before I leap into the spring task of working on the entire boat.Anyways, I'm presuming if I sanded it all down, how will I know I've gone thru the layeres of paint to effectively done the job? A sailor friend of mine locally, believes I have a V-17 paint on the hull/rudder. (??)I'm a novice DIY, but would rather test my abilities on this rudder than make a bigger mistake on the boat's hull itself! Help?Mark

 

[Justin - O'day Owners' Web]

Sounds like different strata of old bottom paint. I'd guess the previous owner changed the color over the years. The white is probably the gel coat.I'd use one of the gel type strippers to take the boat down to gel coat and start over if you want to go fresh. Otherwise I'd sand down each chip until smooth and paint over it. If most of the paint is still well adhered to the boat there is no real problem with that approach.You'll want to get someone who can tell you what type of paint you have definitively to avoid compatability problems. If you can't tell you're probably looking at taking it all the way down.Justin - o'day owners' web

 

[Mark]

Justin,Hi. Wow! I appreciate your timely response! Yeah, I'm keeping busy with it. The black paint is extremely chalky (and makes a terrible mess when sanded!). I've been told it's a V-17 paint. And to think, that I'm only working on the rudder! *Laughing* working on the bottom of my boat..will be interesting! By the way, I do have close-up pics of what the bottom of my boat looks like. Wonder if I should post it here and gain the insight of you all. Respectfully,Mark

 

[Jack]

HI Mark,I did my bottom last year.It had numerous coats of paint.The best thing to do is to start from scratch,it was very tedious and dirty,but I scraped ,chiseledand got it to the gelcoat.Some of the spots were 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick.After I brought it down to the gelcoat,I used interlux's interprotect 2000e/2001e and then their micron extra.This was a great anti-fouling paint for whereI sail{Narraganset Bay R.I.I pulled her outin November,the bottom was clean as could be.If you decide to use this system ,a good trick is to paint the the first two coats a differant color than the last.This way when you pull her out you can tell where the paint has worn and just touch up the areas that are differant color.It's alittle pricey,but well worth it.They have differant systems depending where you sail,also a helpful website yachtpaint.com.Good luck,spring is right around the corner.Jack{trip-j's}

 

[Dave]

Ablative paint

My guess is you have an ablative paint on her. This stuff is made to slowly wear off and out of the water it has a loose surface texture that if sanded makes a huge mess. I don't recommend sanding it. If anything take a solvent...acetone, or equiv. and using lots of rags or paper towels wipe down the entire surface...keep changing rags often. Then just paint over it. If you have years of who knows what then strip it down and follow Jack's advice.dave

 

[Mark]

ablative paint

Dave,Yeah, just by a gentle touch, my finger tips are blackened. I know that when I bought this boat, it hadn't been in the water for at least a couple of years. Acetone will help break it down huh? I appreciate your comments also. I'm open for ideas to simplify it and if it's cost/time efficient..you betcha -- I'm all ears!Mark