BOTTOM PAINTING

[FRED FEAGIN]

THEIR SEEMS TO BE NO SAILBOAT SERVICE COMPANIES IN OKC, THAT WILL PREPARE & PAINT THE BOTTOM OF MY BOAT THAT I'VE FOUND. IT LOOKS LIKE IT WOULD BE A BIG JOB SINCE MY 23.5 SETS SO LOW ON ITS TRAILER GETTING THE PAINT IN THE CENTERBOARD AREA. I'M GUESSING YOU JUST JACK IT UP TO PAINT THE AREAS UNDER THE BUNK BOARDS. HOW DO YOU PREVENT THE BUNKBOARDS FROM STICKING TO THE NEW PROTECTION COATING. I'VE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE , ANY RECOMMENDATIONS ON TYPE & BRAND OF BOTTOM COATINGS ? DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A OKC,OK COMPANY THAT OFFERS THIS SERVICE OR HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS ?

 

[Steve Dion]

FIRST RECOMMENDATION!

write in lower case.Fred:Your problem is similar to what happens in the yard. They put the boats on jack stands and these areas need to be painted and dry. You will need to raise you boat off the bunks and paint. Let it dry and do the other side.

 

[Phil Teter]

Hall it

Fred you could hall it to Redbud Bay Marina on lake Oologah north of Tulsa. Their website is http://www.redbudmarina.com/

 

[Jeff]

Bottom is a bottom

Why not just let a powerbaot facility do it? I'm sure that there are marinas near you that do boat bottoms. They probbaly overcharge you too much to do a sailboat.

 

[Alan Long]

I've done mine

HiI painted the bottom of my 23.5 while it sat on the trailer. It wasn't too bad, although it is creepy crawling around under the boat while blocked up.I used an automotive floor jack, a two by twelve and one of the big square inflatable plastic "fenders". I think Taylor makes the cushion, it is about 14 x 18 inches or so. I put the short piece of 2 x 12 on the jack pad, then the big cushion and jacked them up tight against the boat. It was positioned as far aft on the boat as possible with the cushion flush against the rear of the boat.I jacked it up 1 1/2 inches at a time..blocking with 2 x 6s as I went. The process was repeated til I got it about 6 inches up. On the bow end, I used an old v shaped rubber bow stop rigged to a small bottle jack.The bottle jack rests on the trailer and the V-shaped rubber piece goes againt the boat.For what it is worth I used Woolsey Hydrocoat because it cleans up with water. It worked very well. Not sure I would do it again though. Its a little dangerous and you don't save all that much money. In my case it cost my about 150.00 to do it but a yard would have done the job for around $300.00Hope this helps.

 

[Robert Holt]

Use VC17

I have done my 23.5 several time and the easiest is to just jack up the front then the back using any of the mentioned pads on a floor jack, I made a bit of a portable cradle with lumber and carpet. you just have to get it off the bunks for a bit as th VC17 dries in about 10 minutes. I don't know how good a job I do on the keel as I can't really see it but I get up in there with one of those really thin rollers on a long handle and call it good, given this is for a low fouling situation Lakes and such and I put about three cans a year on with just a good scrub as prep. Funny thing, freinds seem to disappear when this comes about only to reappear when boat hits water with cold beer aboard, non the less a labor of love.