bottom stripping/barrier coat

[David]

Last week started to get the bottom of my 1990 C-30 ready for painting. Bought the boat last season, and clearly the bottom has never been sanded. The prior owner had yard maintain boat. It looks like hard paint originally applied then the last 3 years Micron CSC. The bottom looks awful with some bare spots and peeling paint. I started to strip away and noe have for the most part taken it down to the gelcoat. What is the consensus on barrier coat. It is my understanding that the 1990 had a vinylester gelcoat and should never be sanded. The barrier coat requires you to break through the gelcoat, and I'm not sure I want to create problems when I'm done. Any Advice??? Thnaks in advance.

 

[Jerry]

Why barrier coat?

I am doing the same thing at this time, stripping the coats of paint down to the gel coat and fixing the many dime-sized blisters that have appeared over the years. I have considered doing the barrier coat but the many articles I have read do not seem to go as far as recommending this undertaking. Since blistering occurs from the inside of the surface it would seem that a barrier coat would not prevent future blistering. Would like to know what others think.