Painting bottom of boat

[Razor]

Hello
I recently purchase a 1980 CP 16 that sat neglected for several years. The boat had bottom paint which was in very bad shape. I was able to get it all off with a small pressure washer. I did not want to repaint the bottom with an ablative paint as I will not be leaving her in the water. The color of the bottom is a yellowish color without the bottom paint (unsightly). I am considering just painting the bottom with a non ablative paint but am unsure of the proper application. I am also considering painting everything below the rub rail either one color or the topside one color and below the water line another. Any recommendation on the type of paint to use below the waterline? Also the finish below the waterline is not gelcoat smooth like above the water line. Any recommendations for a good finish without paying a professional?

Thanks!
Terry

http://picasaweb.google.com/gilletteterry/Miscellaneous#5562979639483966994

[Salty19]

Welcome to the forum, Terry.  Nice boat!

A little tough to judge what the condition is by pictures alone.

If it's just stained and not rough, I would use a HD Mr. Clean "magic eraser" doused in a strong solutoin of bar keepers friend (found at the grocery and it's cheap)and water. Scrub, scrub.

Rinse every 2-3 minutes, and rinse the residue off your driveway during the same interval. If that doesn't work, wet sand it with 1000 grit, then 1500 grit, then compound it.  Keep the sandpaper and surface wet.

If it is rough to the touch or the wetsanding isn't make a dent in it, you probably are looking at machine sanding or bead blasting the residue off.  That requires a skilled hand with a sander/blaster to ensure you don't remove too much gelcoat.

Not much help on the paint.  I've epoxied and painted the bottom of my boat but it's in a slip.  Not sure what non-ablative paints would work. 

[Razor]

Thanks for the reply Salty19. Did the Compac 16's typically have a good smooth gelcoat finish below the water line? If so, does that mean some people would apply a primer and bottom coat if they were going to keep it in the water, and this is what I can hopefully get fully off and get back to the gelcoat, right?

[doug]

tpgil4 --

Yes -- as delivered, the Compac 16 came with only gelcoat. With luck you will only have bottom paint, but you could also have a epoxy barrier coat and bottom paint on top of the gelcoat. I know from reading this forum numerous individuals have successfully removed all the bottom paint and ended up with glossy gelcoat. someone might point out the thread, or you can search the archives.

enjoy the 16, we did..

[Salty19]

Yep, babys bottom smooth.

Here's Island Time's bottom, before I grudgingly applied epoxy and paint from near-new gel.




After paint (Petite Vivid custom color):

[CaptRon28]

A boat that spends most of its life on a lift or trailer may not need bottom paint at all. The problem is marine growth. You just can't leave it in the water for more than a few days, and the number of days is generally set by the water temperature. Warmer means less time.  Down here in Florida about 5 days is as much as you'd want to leave it wet in salt water. Fresh water would be somewhat longer. Exceed this and you may need a scraper to get rid of the critters.

If you do decide to paint the bottom, remember that many bottom paints cannot be left out to dry. They tend to lose their ability to fend off growth, mainly because the outer layer hardens, and the copper oxide can't work. This would inlcude epoxies, vinyls, etc. Most ablatives can be pulled out of the water and relaunched days or even months later. These paints tend to gradually wash off exposing the copper oxide. The outer layer never really gets hard enough to stop this process. Read the can (or ask for help) before you buy.

I would think that ablative is the way to go for most sail boats. Another benfit is that you won't have to sand off several "dead" layers of paint every few years. Dead means that there is still copper in the paint, but the water (and marine growth) cannot get to it, or the copper is all gone leaving just the paint. My personal favorite for an ablative is Petit Hydrocoat. It's water based and contains teflon. It's a good trailer boat paint, but probably not strong enough for in-the-water storage in the sub-tropics or further south. There are better ablative paints for this warmer water.

[Bob23]

Here in NJ, I've had great luck with Hydrocoat. Before launching the second season, I contacted Petit tech support to ask about multi-season performance, recoating, etc. I was told, verbatim:"If there is paint on the boat, no need to recoat, just touch up, put the boat in and enjoy!".  I got 3 seasons out of one coat and could have gotten more but decided to recoat before the 4th season out of guilt. BTW, my boat stays in the water 6 to 8 months at a time.
I'd contact Petit about warm water performance. They are really helpful and if you're at a boat show, the Petit reps usually know thier stuff.
Mike:
   Island Time's bottom looks great either way. But why are you trying to hide your port trailer wheel with your finger over the lense? Hmm...makes us wonder what your'e up to!
Bob23

[CaptRon28]

Bob -

Most of my boats have been kept in NJ or MD waters. I've used nothing else but Hydrocoat for the last 15+ years. It was originally made by Woolsey, but Petit took them over. I really like the paint. It's got teflon in the mix, but the copper oxide is the main exterminator. Once it dries, you can burnish (scotch pad on a drill or buffer) it and get another half knot or so out of the boat. Almost looks and feels like a coated frying pan. Cooked eggs would probably just slide off. Another big plus is the water clean-up. No toxic chemicals involved. Just a water hose. Finally, and this is imortant for trailer boats, it is easily the most durable of the ablatives against abrasion. Trailer bunks will not take it off. And you can launch and retrieve a thousand times without hurting the anti-fouling properties. I usually got 2 to 3 years out of the paint up north, even with in-water winter storage every other year.

Only drawback is that it has less copper oxide than some of the tropical style paints like Trinidad SR. Petit would definitely not recommend it for in-the-water storage in Florida or points south. It works well on my trimaran down here mainly because the boat spends most of it's life on a lift (or trailer). I won't leave the boat in the water for more than 2 weeks at a time. When I lift it, I hose it down.

[Salty19]

   Island Time's bottom looks great either way. But why are you trying to hide your port trailer wheel with your finger over the lense? Hmm...makes us wonder what your'e up to!
Bob23

Oh, you know me..I'm always up to something. I probably had the newspaper boy wiping up bearing grease or inflating the tire.  Like that's going to get him any more of a tip!

To anyone that cares, if you can get away without paint..DO IT.  Once you paint, it's a lot of work to remove.  Not to mention adding weight and more friction through the water.

[ssullivan]

do any of you guys add anything to your bottom paint?

because down here a lot of commercial fishermen add cayenne pepper to there bottom paint, it actually seems to help.
also in the keys just about every one i know/worked for uses hard bottom paint, beaching with ablative paint really shortens its life

[Salty19]

Yes, I've read about the cayenne pepper trick.   

http://www.bwi.org/images/basics.pdf

There will always be debate over hard vs. ablative.  I suppose the answer depends on your situation.

The Petite Vivid shown is a hard type but it DOES come off if you scrub or power wash, just not as easily as ablative. I believe some hard paints are "harder" so to speak.

After sitting in a cold freshwater lake all season except for one hauling/cleaning, it had light plant growth, all green that powerwashed right off. It took some paint along with it but not much.