Haulout Chore List
If you are planning to do ALL the work yourself, 5 days may be cutting it close. If a yard is doing all the work, they will probably do it all the last two days (typical.)Blisters: To reduce costs and TONS OF TIME, you might consider fixing only the blisters that have water in them. After power-washing, let air dry, then press on each blister. (Mark it with a marker of some kind.) If water exits the blister when pressed, it definitely needs repair. On an '81, I bet you have lots of blisters. (My 85 had 3-4 per sq. ft.; just had bottom done in September.) The next time you haul out, other blisters will need repair. After 4-6 years of doing this you will have them all repaired. Up to you, but just a time and money saver. Idiot-proof instructions? To my knowledge they don't exist for bottom work; I refuse to do any bottom glass repair myself. If the boat sinks, I'd rather blame it on someone else.
Just replaced my cutlass bearing too. Be aware that if your prop is even the slightest bit bent, warped, or unbalanced, the new cutlass bearing will not last more than a few months; I'd have the prop checked as well.Painting: If you do the painting yourself, be sure you have a lift scheduled for no more than 24-36 hours after painting. You want to be back in the water before the paint gets very hard and brittle. The anti-fouling properties work better and the paint lasts longer. For bottom preparation, you might read up on just how much of the old bottom you need to sand off. There are a lot of theories on that one depending on the purpose of your boat (casual cruiser, racing, etc.)As previously mentioned by Steve, definitely ckeck the keel attachment. I don't remember if the 30 has iron or lead keel, but if it's iron, be prepared to scrape, grind, or chisel massive rust (and/or barnacles) off the keel. If you do have an iron keel, I also recommend a coat of epoxy (with no air bubbles) over the keel EXCEPT FOR THE BOTTOM EDGE. (Need bottom clear for proper ground plane.) You need to make sure the entire keel is perfectly clean before applying the epoxy though. The epoxy will significantly reduce rust and growth and the paint sticks to it fine. Tools: Air powered orbital sander is a must. An electric will work but you might actually wear it out before you got the entire bottom finished.In summary: by the time you buy all the tools, materials, and parts then do all of the work yourself, you will have invested more than what a normal bottom job will cost. (Where I live anyway.) I definitely recommend having a yard do the bottom job unless you are really looking for the satisfaction of a job well-done. Besides, if the EPA is very "active" in your area, you need to make sure the bottom job site is an EPA approved facility. This requires a specific drain where all the dust, etc. from the preparation and completion of the bottom job can be filtered and the water reused from a specially designed tank. Most 30-footers would be done outdoors unless you plan on derigging the mast during the maintenance. No EPA paint pad, no bottom job. Be careful, the fine in my area is $10,000 plus 30 days community "EPA" service. The rest of the maintenance (thru-hulls, etc.) can be done by yourself while the yard is doing the bottom job. If you do this, I also recommend washing the upper deck off after they have sanded the bottom. The paint dust gets everywhere and you'll spend weeks cleaning rubbed-in paint dust off the deck and the cabin sole if you don't spray it off right away. (I learned this the very hard way.)Good Luck!Jay Hill