Painting my Hull

Mar 31, 2017
37
Hunter 31 31 Lake George ny
I know this has gone around the block many times but I never seem to get it clear. I have a 31Hunter and want to Paint the hull.
First off, I want to get all of the antifouling paint off. Can I power wash it and do a little less sanding? $1000 seems like a lot of money to have it soda blasted.
The boat will be moored in a very clean freshwater lake and I am no concerned about slim or algae. I was thinking about using VC performance two part epoxy. Thanks
 
Jun 29, 2010
1,287
Beneteau First 235 Lake Minnetonka, MN
Bottom paint comes off as easy as IT wants too. No sure fire solution for every situation. Not knowing what it is painted with now, what is underneath that, or how many layers of either, means ya just gotta go with it. Some have had success with soy based removers, others with a random orbital and 80 grit, others...... well you get the picture. Typical answer to a sailing question... "It depends".
 
Mar 31, 2017
37
Hunter 31 31 Lake George ny
Sounds like it can hurt to try it before spending the money. I don't mind a little labor. Thanks
 

PaulK

.
Dec 1, 2009
1,222
Sabre 402 Southport, CT
Powerwashing the bottom can have side effects like killing everything in a 10' splash zone around your boat, or having DEEP fine the marina a few thousand if the runoff isn't contained and filtered properly. At our dry-storage area they have a special drain area that they put boats when they powerwash them and they also make sure we have vacuums attached to our sanders if we take that on ourselves. Nasty stuff, antifouling paint. Don't breathe the dust, either.
 

Sumner

.
Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country


We paid $1200 4 years ago to have the bottom on the 37' Endeavour taken down to gel coat, above, by a professional with media blasting prior to doing blister repairs. I personally felt it was a fair price. The yard crew wanted about $2500 to do it with sanders if I remember right. It would of been a big job for me to undertake. Usually I like doing all my own work but in this case felt it was money well spent.

We then paid the yard to do the blister repair some months later when we knew the blisters had drained and the hull was dry. Then we applied the ...



... barrier paint and ...



.. then the anti-fouling.

More here....

http://1fatgmc.com/boat/end-1/endeavour-outside-mods/page-1.html

Sumner
=============================================================
1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac...
Endeavour 37 Mods...
MacGregor 26-S Mods...
Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Canada, Florida, Bahamas
 

Joe

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Jun 1, 2004
7,999
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
You might look into the chemical paint removal systems. One is called "smart strip"... I have no experience with it The product uses laminated paper over the chemical to facilitate removal. Supposed to be safe over gel coat. Many boat yards have severe restrictions on sanding... check with them first.
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
What kind of bottom paint is on the boat? If you have ablative paint on it, you might consider just letting it ablate off naturally. The powers to be around Lake George are probably very sensitive to the environmental effects of bottom paints and the run off from washing them.

Talk to some of the J24 sailors in Lake George about using VC Performance. It is not an easy paint to apply correctly. I've used it on my Flying Scot. There is a very short time frame for applying it a sanding it. On the other hand it polishes out to a very hard smooth finish, great for racing, overkill for cruising.
 
Mar 31, 2017
37
Hunter 31 31 Lake George ny
Thanks for the input. I have the boat at my house right now and wanted to avoid dealing with ablative at the lake. Thanks
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
An alternative to VC Performance is to use Interlux 2000E. It is easier to apply and easier to sand smooth when it cures. It will polish out almost as well as VC Performance.

Franmar makes an environmentally friendly paint stripper that works pretty well. Franmar Inc. | Home
 
Oct 6, 2007
1,023
Hunter H30 1982 Chicago IL
We used 80 grit paper on orbital sanders to remove multiple layers of ablative paint and a few layers of mystery paint down to the gelcoat when I did a new bottom a few years ago. If I was doing it again, soda blasting would get serious consideration, though I don't know what it should cost. Sanding was three weekends of very nasty work for which I personally would gladly pay $1k to avoid doing again.
If you choose to sand, buy a real good mask and respirator. You'll need a new barrier coat and may have some gelcoat repairs and fairing to do as well.
Slime and algae are exactly what you will have in a clean fresh water lake. Fortunately, that's all you'll have. VC-17 seems to be the most common choice here on Lake Michigan for those who don't want an ablative paint.
 
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shnool

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Aug 10, 2012
556
WD Schock Wavelength 24 Wallenpaupack
Soda blast, and pay a guy... it's really nasty work, and not easy to do, and protective gear is essential. $1000 seems like money well spent. I did my 25 foot Capri, and I'd have paid $1000 for someone to do that for me!
 

BruceC

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Oct 6, 2008
37
Oday 26 So. Orleans
I elected to chemically remove multiple layers of bottom paint on a 1985 O'Day 26 that prior owner failed to care for properly. The product I used was Peel Away Marine Safety Strip. The chemical is in gel form that you cover with provided paper. After setting for a prescribed period, the paper is removed and a scraper is used to remove the bulk of the bottom paint. Depending upon the number of layers of bottom paint, you will undoubtedly have to use sander to remove to gel coat. Random orbital sander, together with hand sanding, may be used carefully to avoid cutting into gel coat. While you may not wish to go to this extreme, I decided to apply Interlux Protect 2000E epoxy barrier coat to prevent blisters before applying Pettit ablative bottom paint. Although I was age 65 when I accomplished this work, your Hunter 31 is considerably larger; it was a lot of work but I know it was done correctly.
 
Mar 31, 2017
37
Hunter 31 31 Lake George ny
Thanks for the reply's. Yesterday I took a cold chisel to the bottom paint. To my surprise it scraped right off. I think the power washer will blast it right off. I will update on the progress. Thanks
 

DougM

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Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
dlochner suggested interprotect 2000E which is only a barrier coat, but a good one. It doesn't have any antifouling properties.
After you get the old bottom paint off, you could use interprotect, but then you would still need bottom paint. Since you are in fresh water, why not consider VC17. Its easy to apply, and doesn't build up.
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
dlochner suggested interprotect 2000E which is only a barrier coat, but a good one. It doesn't have any antifouling properties.
After you get the old bottom paint off, you could use interprotect, but then you would still need bottom paint. Since you are in fresh water, why not consider VC17. Its easy to apply, and doesn't build up.
The OP suggested using VC Performance which is not an antifouling paint. It is a very hard epoxy paint that racers use because it can be polished and ends up being smoother and faster than a gelcoat bottom. It is especially good for dry sailed boats. The downside is that it sets up fairly quickly and there is only a small time window in which the finish can be over coated (multiple coats will be needed) and polished.

Interprotect 2000E can be sanded and polished to a surface nearly as smooth as VC Performance but is a much more forgiving finish in terms of overcoat times and sanding times. It can also be over coated with an antifouling paint, I don't believe that VC Performance can be over coated with an anti-fouling because there is some teflon in the paint.

For freshwater, VC 17 over Interprotect 2000e would be a good choice, except for the copper leaching from the paint. A copper free antifouling paint would be a more environmentally sound choice, especially given the pristine nature of Lake George. Petit makes a copper free paint and Blue Water Marine Shelter Island paint is copper free and highly rated by Practical Sailor.
 
Mar 31, 2017
37
Hunter 31 31 Lake George ny
The biggest reason I am doing any of this is because of the Pristine waters of Lake George. Once the boat goes up there I don't want to deal with any antifouling paint. I think I could always safely touch up the VC performance paint if need be.
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
The biggest reason I am doing any of this is because of the Pristine waters of Lake George. Once the boat goes up there I don't want to deal with any antifouling paint. I think I could always safely touch up the VC performance paint if need be.
The problem is that the VC Performance would have to be removed in order to apply bottom paint. That significantly reduces the marketability of the boat. Contact Interlux and ask them about your plan.
 
Mar 1, 2016
262
Oday 28 Tracy's Landing
My ODay 28 is a 1984. when I had it surveyed at time of purchase April 2016 my surveyor said it had excessive bottom paint that should be removed. I've heard of peelers, scrappers and soda blasting. Last year I put the project off while the boat was on the hard for other work. How important is it to do this job now? Cheap option is to light sand and add another top coat. Given EPA regs the boat yard how much one can do on their own. I'm probably having a resident shop do the work in their protected area.
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
My ODay 28 is a 1984. when I had it surveyed at time of purchase April 2016 my surveyor said it had excessive bottom paint that should be removed. I've heard of peelers, scrappers and soda blasting. Last year I put the project off while the boat was on the hard for other work. How important is it to do this job now? Cheap option is to light sand and add another top coat. Given EPA regs the boat yard how much one can do on their own. I'm probably having a resident shop do the work in their protected area.
How much work you can do in the yard, will depend on the yard. My yard let me do a bottom job myself. The yard may want you to put a tarp down to collect and debris.

There are effective portable dust collection units. I used a Dust Deputy with an random orbital sander and a shop vac. Works very well, with little or no dust escaping.