Trailer sailor bottom paint?

[ChrisNC]

Well, I think that normal practice is NOT to paint the bottom of a trailered boat.

However, my "new" '77 Venture 25 is kind of scruffy on the bottom, and there are 3-4 small places that were repaired in a poor manner and I will be reworking properly. It appears to have been previously painted, a layer of something comes off when I'm powerwashing it. So, I'm kind of forced to paint.

The boat will live on the trailer. So I really don't need an "ablative" bottom paint- not only would it not be necessary in my case, but would actually be bad? Use of the boat is mostly lakes but she'll go to the ICW every once in a while.

But I have seen where glossy topside paints don't do well under water. Also, I'm concerned about blistering where the hull sits on the carpeted bunks. Would indoor/outdoor carpet dry quicker than regular carpet, maybe reducing this problem?

Thanks, everybody!

 

[Eric M]

I painted the bottom of my J/24 with Interlux Performance Epoxy which creats a nice smooth, hard surface. Like your situation, the boat was always on the trailer, I just needed to cover over some repaired areas.
Carpet on bunk pads will cause blisters over time. I would be surprised if you didn't already have some given the age of your boat. The non-slip flooring you might find in a lockeroom shower floor or the rubber strips you nail to the side of a dock can both be used to provide a soft bunk that does not absorb water. Check around at the Lake Norman Yacht Club for different ideas.

 

[rickman]

How about "slick strips" on your bunks? These are marketed to the bass fisherman/power boater, but I don't know why they wouldn't work for your application. Plus, they make it easier to load/unload the boat. I have had them on my fishing boat trailer for several years.

 

[ChrisNC]

Thanks, Eric- about how much paint did it take? Did you brush or roll-and-tip?

On the bunks, some kind of non-marking rubbery type stuff would work, I like that.

Rickman, I had never heard of slick strips, so I googled "boat trailer slick strips". I has very surprised to see THIS THREAD was number 2 on the results!! Small world indeed! That kind of freaked me out at first (big brother is watching), but it makes perfect sense. I've seen google pull up some very useful forum threads when I searched for stuff, just never had my own thread come up. It was weird!

Anyway, those strips are pretty cool. Only thing about my application is the bunks are 8" wide x 14' long, it would take a lot of them, and I'm kind of a cheapskate... But for your standard 2-by set on edge bunk, that is a neat idea, and cheap if you only need 2 or 4 24" pieces.

 

[RichBone]

Thanks, Eric- about how much paint did it take? Did you brush or roll-and-tip?

On the bunks, some kind of non-marking rubbery type stuff would work, I like that.

Rickman, I had never heard of slick strips, so I googled "boat trailer slick strips". I has very surprised to see THIS THREAD was number 2 on the results!! Small world indeed! That kind of freaked me out at first (big brother is watching), but it makes perfect sense. I've seen google pull up some very useful forum threads when I searched for stuff, just never had my own thread come up. It was weird!

Anyway, those strips are pretty cool. Only thing about my application is the bunks are 8" wide x 14' long, it would take a lot of them, and I'm kind of a cheapskate... But for your standard 2-by set on edge bunk, that is a neat idea, and cheap if you only need 2 or 4 24" pieces.

I don't think you would want to have too long of a "slick strip". That would be too slick. A couple of pads on each bunk (possibly recessed into it) would be sufficient.

I dry sailed for almost 30 yrs and never had any problem with blistering under the bunks. But like Eric said given the age of the boat that you probably have some blistering. You said, "there are 3-4 small places that were repaired in a poor manner and I will be reworking properly". Are these hull repairs or paint repairs? In any case, it sounds like the old bottom paint needs to be removed and epoxy paint applied. I had my bottom sand blasted, epoxied and bottom painted this past summer. http://forums.oday.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=110296

If you're going to have the boat in the water for a week or more at a time bottom paint should be used as well. Check the specs for the different paints. Some work better than others for boats that are in and out of the water. Unless it's in water for extended times I don't think you would need a very "aggressive" paint.