I live on a freshwater lake in South Carolina and have a 1976 Catalina 22. Although the boat is primarily used and moored in freshwater during the warmer months, I keep her on a trailer and occasionally trailer her to saltwater for short cruises. After years of periodic buffing and surface treatments to maintain the shine, the gel coat for the topside decking and the hull needs painting. I'm ready to tackle a job of this size but I am overwhelmed with choices (and serious money) involved! I'm looking for DIY tips, i.e your personal experiences, reference books, types of products recommended (for deck, hull, and below waterline), ideas on preparation of surfaces, and even comments about using a brush vs. roller vs. spray. Thanks, Ray
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I've two friend that did this very project last year. One rolled / tipped while the other tried his hand at spraying. If you've not done a lot of spraying I would use the roll / tip method. Of the two boats the rolled and tipped looks the best, the sprayed boat owner is going to have to do a lot of sanding to remove the runs and mistakes (not the place to learn to spray). A good rolled and tipped paint job looks almost like it's been sprayed. Both used Interlux brightsides for both the deck and topsides.
Two years ago my boat suffered a lightning strike, I spent the entire summer repairing the bottom. Once repaired and faired I used Interlux 2000 barrier coat followed with VC17 bottom paint. While my boat is used in both fresh and saltwater had I to do it again I most likely would have gone with VC Offshore. It's a personal choice when it comes to bottom paints and everyone has there favorites.
I would advise you to visit the Interlux web page and read up on technics, remembering that prep work is everything to a good finish.
Two years ago my boat suffered a lightning strike, I spent the entire summer repairing the bottom. Once repaired and faired I used Interlux 2000 barrier coat followed with VC17 bottom paint. While my boat is used in both fresh and saltwater had I to do it again I most likely would have gone with VC Offshore. It's a personal choice when it comes to bottom paints and everyone has there favorites.
I would advise you to visit the Interlux web page and read up on technics, remembering that prep work is everything to a good finish.
For the hull and non-skid deck area's I've used Interlux polyurathane enamel with a disposable roller and disposable brush. Prep as discribed by Interlux. Inside corners were painted first with a brush, then rolled. Don't paint too big of an area at once. The rolled sections will look like crap! Full of air bubbles......relax, the air bubbles will flow out along with the brush marks and the surface gives a sprayed appearance. Wet sand the gloss off and apply another coat, or a third for a show-boat look :dance: . The "key" is a high quality marine paint. Those who seen the end results never believed it was painted with a brush and roller........
Don
Don
Thanks Ken! Thanks Don! Appreciate the advice! Both of you seem to indicate too that you painted over the deck and non-skid, so I'm assuming the finish isn't too slippery and no further non-skid additives were needed. Right?
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