To paint or not to paint

[zinahewitt]

Hi All,

I have an old boat from the 1975.
It was painted on the top in white. I am pretty sure this is the original Gelcoat as the acetone test didn't make a dent on it.
The white has become damaged over time and is now chalky.
I think the term is oxidization.

I don't really care much but once it rains the stuff washes into the red of my sailboat gelcoat and the boat looks like it had better days.
My wife has complained about this.
The previous owner planned on painting it, but the surfaces he painted are more slippery so he stopped.
You can see the lazarette was painted.
The skid surface is the original gelcoat lattice with grooves.


I was told by the yard I would need to sand the lattice down and remove hardware and paint, I bought the boat to sail not to do manual labor for past sins.
I was told by the yard to paint it would be $25,000.If I apply to management with this bid she will simply tell me to sell and get a new hobby.


So I thought my two options are.
1. I can buy a Makita Polisher, then sand and polish the original gelcoat, being a 1970s boat I assume they poured it down and I have enough to work with.
Like a corded 7 Inch. That should reduce the oxidization.
I can use something like
Marine 31 Gel Coat Heavy-Cut Oxidation Cleaner

Then polish it more finely.
Marine 31 Gel Coat Final Step Polish


Then wax ? or I assume no wax as that will make it slippery.



or
2. I can paint over it with some
YJB000Q Interdeck White Quart
non skid finish.
Then in the areas where I have that lattice diamond thing, I can paint thinly and toss some sand on it to give it more grip.


Any advice ?

 

[jssailem]

I have a boat from 1973. The gel coat is oxidized. When I spray the deck it is difficult to tell where dirt ends and the rest is white gelcoat milk in the water.

Your location implies Northern California, where the sun is always shining. That same Sun that has been working on your gelcoat for 50 years. No tan just oxidation.

you can try the sand and polish approach, but it is a bit like lipstick on a pig.

Once you paint it will always be paint. My former owner tried sanding but burned through the gelcoat in places.

I have reached the point that painting is in my near future. So I wash the gelcoat down and go sailing without the deck leaving white chalk marks on my clothes. And pull up to the same dock like all the bright shiny boats that are sitting there. I’m sailing while they are sitting or polishing.

 

[dlochner]

Paint will not adhere to an oxidized surface.

If you opt to paint, it will be necessary to sand the gelcoat down past the oxidized layer, fair the deck to cover the pinholes and other imperfections, then prime and paint. $25K seems like a decent quote for the amount of work involved.

For the smooth parts of the deck start with 400 grit wet/dry paper and work your way up to 1000 grit. Then start with the rubbing compound and wax. The nonskid is trickier. You can try using rubbing compound and a wool buffing pad, I'm not sure how well that will work. If the diamond pattern is worn, you may be OK, if it is still sharp you may not be able to reach the deeper parts or the pad may get torn up.

Another option is to polish the smooth parts and sand off the non-skid and apply new non skid paint. Kiwi Grip will cover a lot of sins and provide a good gripping surface. This approach would also allow you to spread the work out over several seasons as you will be replacing the nonskid in sections and not the whole deck.

KiwiGrip | Non-Skid Coating

KiwiGrip is a non-toxic non-skid coating for aluminum, wood, concrete and more. By varying your application technique you can achieve a mild to an aggressive texture. KiwiGrip is water based making it very easy to apply and clean up.

www.pyiinc.com

Tips For A Great Buff & Wax

Buff Polish & Wax Try these products (for Gel-Coat only not intended for Awlgrip) The Cliff Note Version: Steps: #1-Clean the hull with an acid base cleaner like FSR, oxalic acid or On & Off to remove rust & tannin staining. (only if necessary) #2-Wet Sand by hand 600 (if real bad)...

forums.sailboatowners.com

 

[Stu Jackson]

Dave's second link is to Maine Sail's absolutely classic How To. The Cliff Notes version, copied below for those who for some unknown reason don't click on links, has a half dozen steps. For some of the boats I've owned, since 1983, I've just ONLY done steps one and six and the areas looked good. For example, I'd use FSR to get rid of the bow moustache (tannin), but without wax on top it would come back; never did with wax after FSR. Lots of water AFTER FSR, follow directions. Then wax. Worked great in cockpit and cabintop sides. Give small areas a try to see if it works for you. It's a way to make it look better without being "perfect." Fleetwax is wonderful stuff. I would avoid paint like the plague.

The Cliff Note Version:
Steps:
#1-Clean the hull with an acid base cleaner like FSR, oxalic acid or On & Off to remove rust & tannin staining. (only if necessary)

#2-Wet Sand by hand 600 (if real bad) then move up the grits to P1000+ (only if severely oxidized other wise you can start at #3)

#3-3M Marine Rubbing Compound or Presta Gel Coat Compound (use a wool 3M super buff COMPOUND grade pad like the #05711) (if already fairly shiny start at #4)

#4-3M Finesse It or Presta Ultra Cutting Creme (Use a foam 3M #05725 pad or 3M Yellow Wool # 05713 Note: Yellow wool is far easier and far more forgiving for a novice and will also last a LOT longer than any foam)

#5-(OPTIONAL STEP) Presta Chroma - Use 3M #05725 foam, #05713 wool or Blue Presta wool pad.

#6-Collinite #885 Fleet Wax Paste Version- or 3M Performance Paste Wax. For a polymer coating I like AwlCare or Nu-Finish

 

[Ward H]

I followed Maine Sail's tutorial on a 1983 Oday 25 back in 2012. The gelcoat came back great. I could read my watch in the reflection off the gelcoat.

Be careful when sanding, only wet sand and only use wet and dry sandpaper. I used an air powered palm sander and kept the gelcoat wet.
Go through the process in a small area first. Maybe you don't need the like new shine, maybe less sanding at the lower number grits to help ensure you don't go through the gelcoat.

It might help to know that gelcoat is not poured on to the fiberglass. It sprayed on the inside of a mold of the hull. Then fiberglass is laid over the gelcoat to build up the hull thickness. So the gelcoat layer is relatively thin.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I'm having a hard time understanding your entire post. You say it was "painted on top" but you are sure it is original gelcoat. What specifically was painted? I'm assuming your hull is red gelcoat. All your pictures appear to be in the cockpit. I don't see any pictures of your deck (all the non-skid appears to be your cockpit seating). I'm assuming the first picture is a vertical surface that is severely oxidized. If all the pictures are inside the cockpit, how does this relate to staining on the red hull? I'm probably missing a large part of the explanation.

All that said, $25,000 for resurfacing your cockpit and deck (assuming that is also a problem) is a crazy high number, especially for a 1975 fiberglass boat! If that number includes painting your hull, I could understand the price but you don't seem to indicate that is an objective. Besides that, sanding down that perfectly good-looking molded non-skid would be absurd. I don't see anything substantially wrong with your non-skid. The smooth gelcoat IS severely oxidized but those surfaces should not be overly hard to restore and maintain. Hiring a yard to do that work would be very extravagant for a 1975 boat, I think.

I would tape off the non-skid and aggressively sand down the smooth gelcoat. Starting at 600 and working down to as fine as you have the patience for would be my recommend. Then paint only the smooth surfaces with an Interlux one-part deck paint or a 2-part paint if you have the inclination. I think it would be a huge mistake to sand down your molded non-skid and install a new non-skid treatment. Your non-skid looks fine to me. But perhaps there is a suitable way to paint the non-skid.

I have my own questions about the molded non-skid areas. My grey non-skid surfaces have faded to nearly white and I would like to paint the non-skid to restore some color but I don't want to diminish the non-skid properties by filling in too much with paint. Do a search in this forum for "painting over molded non skid deck" and you will find a nice post from @william24424 who did this. If you believe your non-skid areas really need restoration, I wouldn't hesitate to follow his lead.

If you are worried about slipping on newly-painted horizontal surfaces (the smooth areas), wear proper shoes and you won't have a problem, I think. I prevent all the smooth surfaces from oxidation by polishing and waxing. I particularly don't want the vertical surfaces to get chalky.