Original bottom paint color?

[rhythmsurfer]

This week I started sanding off 30 years of bottom paint on the Hunter36 1981. I am wondering if the boats had some type of barrier coat applied. The best I can tell is I have paint in this order: red, dark blue, white, then blue, then gel coat. The blue paint seems to be different than the others it is in really good shape and doesn't seem to have the divets like the other layers. Is this just because they sanded properly before applying the new (at that time new, bottom paint)???? The other layers have all of these divets. I am guessing it is because they had barnacles and they/PO/ contractor scraped them off and DID NOT sand. In other words they just rolled on the new bottom paint. Also, I started out using strippers to remove the paint. They didn't work all that great and wife really didn't like the smell. haha We did wear respirators. Now we are using 36 grit orbital sanders. Laborious but it works. Any thoughts?

 

[Ed Schenck]

In 1999 I scraped off I don't know how many years of hard modified-epoxy paint. I used the long handled paint scrapers and filed off the corners of the blades so as not to gouge. Had some thin black spots left which I hand sanded with #80. Then I applied five coats of Interlux 2000E. I like the hard fast bottom paint so went back to that and always had good results. But I had to sand every spring and put on at least one new coat. While in NC doing some refit work I paid the yard to have two guys do two hours of sanding with big vacuum sanders. Then I switched from black to a red ablative. Now back in Ohio after twenty-four months in salt water it has a few bare spots. So I will continue with a red ablative, a cheap red ablative.

 

[rhythmsurfer]

Thanks Ed, I used the scrappers/putty knifes, razor blades, and three different types of strippers. I guess I just need to have more patience. That is hard to find when you keep seeing dollar signs when you look at the calendar for how long the boat will be on the hill.

 

[Stephen Trapani]

Last time I did a job like this the fastest tool we could find was sharpened 1-1 1/2"chisels. We developed a method, scraping with two hands on the chisel at just the right angle. After mastering the proper technique we were able to take off all the coats right down to the gel coat with barely any marring of the gel coat. It took two of us two days (about 15hrs) to get it all off a 32' boat. The way we did it, all the layers came off together. Every two hours or so the chisels needed to be sharpened. This worked better and faster than all manner of scrapers, sanders and blades that we tried. F**king hard work, but pretty satisfying.

 

[rhythmsurfer]

Stephen,
Did you use a paint stripper? And thanks for the advice.

 

[Stephen Trapani]

Stephen,
Did you use a paint stripper? And thanks for the advice.

Nope, no stripper. Just pushing the chisels, scraping away at the paint. It took us a few hours to get good at it, but once we did it went pretty fast.

 

[Stephen Trapani]

Nope, no stripper. Just pushing the chisels, scraping away at the paint. It took us a few hours to get good at it, but once we did it went pretty fast.

I just remembered a crucial part of the technique. The chisel is bad at getting off the paint unless it has a hole to work from. In other words you have to have a small area down to the gel coat first, then work out from there with the chisel. Does that make sense? You have to be able to get under the layers from the side first, then you can scrape them all off at once with the chisel.