Bottom Painting Question

[Mike]

I have an O'Day 27 I bought used. The boat had an unidentified green paint that seemed to be in good condition. I sanded & applied a coat of black paint. Much of that was worn off at hauling time, so I sanded most of it off & applied two coats of water-based ablative paint. It held up well, but now I have chips that show green. What does that mean? Should I sand off the ablative paint, or wet it & apply another coat? I don't want to strip the whole bottom this year.

 

[Matt]

Strip the whole bottom

When in doubt, strip it bare and start over. Use a good barrier coat. I prefer Interprotect 2000/2001.

 

[david]

green bottom paint

it sounds like the green paint has good adhesion since you don't mention any of that flaking off. But you have added two different paints on top of it the black and the ablative. If you just want to get one more season before stripping it then just feather the edges of the flaked areas, sand the whole bottom and add a few coats of ablative, actually since ablative is supposed to be multi season you could just touch up the areas where it flaked and relaunch, I recommend a new coat however. If your lucky it will all flake off during the season and your stripping job will be easier.good luckdave

 

[Justin - O'day Owners' Web]

Painting

Mike -I would wet sand the hull with 80 grit paper with a large flow of water on the area you are sanding. Work from the waterline down. Usually this would be enough to ensure sanding dust is gone, but since you've already had problems go one step further. Get a gallon of acetone and wash from the waterline down again. Then paint immediately. As soon as the acetone evaporates, start at it. That way no dust can collect on the boat before you get to it.Then, next year, strip it and start over right.Justin - O'day Owners' Web

 

[Dennis Lindauer]

bottom paint

I agree, strip the hull. I've used both, West System and Interprotect and prefer West, but don't actually know which system works best as a barrier coat. It's a big job, have fun.