Took the boat out last fall and it will be back in soon. I will be painting a coat of VC17 and would like to know if there is anything that can be done to make it smoother prior to painting? What tools should I use? What about all that poision dust created from the antifoul...that stuff is nasty and dangerous.
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How smooth?
If you are a racer and want a near mirror finish, then stripping the hull to the gelcoat before coating with paint is probably worth considering. I don't race but after 6 years of applying too much paint, I almost did the stripping job. When I realized that the job was way more than I wanted to do, I agressively sanded the bottom with 80 grit using a vacuum sander. Even at that it was a messy job but it was complete in one day for a 40 foot boat. This year I will sand again with the same equipment before rolling on one thin coat of ablative paint. The sanding work of last year produced a noticeable increase of speed- maybe 1/4-1/2 kt.
If you are a racer and want a near mirror finish, then stripping the hull to the gelcoat before coating with paint is probably worth considering. I don't race but after 6 years of applying too much paint, I almost did the stripping job. When I realized that the job was way more than I wanted to do, I agressively sanded the bottom with 80 grit using a vacuum sander. Even at that it was a messy job but it was complete in one day for a 40 foot boat. This year I will sand again with the same equipment before rolling on one thin coat of ablative paint. The sanding work of last year produced a noticeable increase of speed- maybe 1/4-1/2 kt.
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