I have a 1993 Beneteau. It has a moderate build up of bottom paint which I plan to have removed this fall. Is there a need to put a barrier coat on in the spring before the new bottom kote, or is just a bottom kote painting enough?
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Bottoms and blisters.
Dear Dennis: With a '93 Beneteau you still have 3 years of blister warranty left, so technically you shouldn't have to worry yet. However, if your scraping her back to the fibreglass any way it's a good time to look at the Interprotect 2000 barrier coat system, which is an epoxy finish. I know of a couple of other Beneteau owners that have gone this route with complete satisfaction before the warranty expired and it is what were doing with our 15 year old Beneteau on our next haul out. Be aware however that sanding your gelcoat in preperation will void the warranty! As to bottom paint itself, we've had wonderful success with Petit's Trinidad, once going 4 years between bottom paintings with only a few barnacles to show for it. We kept the bottom paint active by gently cleaning it from time to time without scrapping it all off. Good luck! Brian Pickton,aboard The Legend, Rodney Bay St.Lucia
Dear Dennis: With a '93 Beneteau you still have 3 years of blister warranty left, so technically you shouldn't have to worry yet. However, if your scraping her back to the fibreglass any way it's a good time to look at the Interprotect 2000 barrier coat system, which is an epoxy finish. I know of a couple of other Beneteau owners that have gone this route with complete satisfaction before the warranty expired and it is what were doing with our 15 year old Beneteau on our next haul out. Be aware however that sanding your gelcoat in preperation will void the warranty! As to bottom paint itself, we've had wonderful success with Petit's Trinidad, once going 4 years between bottom paintings with only a few barnacles to show for it. We kept the bottom paint active by gently cleaning it from time to time without scrapping it all off. Good luck! Brian Pickton,aboard The Legend, Rodney Bay St.Lucia
Interlux Web Site
The web site for Interlux is at http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa/. It has a good section with information about osmostic blistering and barrier coat base preparation and application. Recommend talking to the factory about their recommendation or requirements (so as not to avoid any warranty) and the manufacturer of the gel coat. We used the Interlux 2000 for our barrier coat and Petit Trinidad SR paint. Normally one wants to keep all the same manufacturer of chemicals and follow the instructions so if there is a pealing or other type of failure they can't point the finger at the other guy. After 12 years of Petit bottom paint we have had only some minor flaking problems which is at least partially attribable to pressure washing. Recommend talking to the manufacturers rep for Interlux in your area and if you're doing the work yourself try and get him to bless your plan and maybe stop by to inspect the work at critical stages. If the yard does the work try to make sure they follow the manufacturers directions. From my experience the yards consider themselves the experts and don't like to be questioned. But if you "inspect" the work, checking air temperatures, over coat times, chemical mixing (2000 is a two part process), layer thickness, etc., they hopefully will make a greater effort to do the work properly. Work on the rudder because of it's thin cross section might be different than on the rest of the boat. Suggestion: Consider checking the keel bolt tightness before applying the barrier coat. If tightning causes a crack it can be patched before applying the first layer of barrier coat. Knowing there are several barrier coats provides some peace of mind with regard to blistering.
The web site for Interlux is at http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa/. It has a good section with information about osmostic blistering and barrier coat base preparation and application. Recommend talking to the factory about their recommendation or requirements (so as not to avoid any warranty) and the manufacturer of the gel coat. We used the Interlux 2000 for our barrier coat and Petit Trinidad SR paint. Normally one wants to keep all the same manufacturer of chemicals and follow the instructions so if there is a pealing or other type of failure they can't point the finger at the other guy. After 12 years of Petit bottom paint we have had only some minor flaking problems which is at least partially attribable to pressure washing. Recommend talking to the manufacturers rep for Interlux in your area and if you're doing the work yourself try and get him to bless your plan and maybe stop by to inspect the work at critical stages. If the yard does the work try to make sure they follow the manufacturers directions. From my experience the yards consider themselves the experts and don't like to be questioned. But if you "inspect" the work, checking air temperatures, over coat times, chemical mixing (2000 is a two part process), layer thickness, etc., they hopefully will make a greater effort to do the work properly. Work on the rudder because of it's thin cross section might be different than on the rest of the boat. Suggestion: Consider checking the keel bolt tightness before applying the barrier coat. If tightning causes a crack it can be patched before applying the first layer of barrier coat. Knowing there are several barrier coats provides some peace of mind with regard to blistering.
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