painting bottom

[Paul]

It's unlikely Hutchins painted a barrier coat.  I don't know what their current warranty regulations are, but some manufacturers will void the hull warranty if you do anything other than a standard bottom job.  Maybe the owners of new boats could chime in and let us know what sort of warranty came with their boat.

Gray Barrier coat ought to be pretty hard stuff.  Who knows what it is for sure.  But, if the PO knew he would store it on a trailer most of the time anyway, why would he go to the trouble of using barrier coat, much less antifouling paint.  (Assuming there is just one previous owner.)  Just find a bottom paint that works well in the waters you typically sail in and follow the directions.  If the previous bottom paint isn't in too bad condition you may be able to limit your sanding and simply paint right over.  READ the directions for the paint you research.

Regarding the sawsall.  You might want to check the trailer bunk posts to see if they may simply be lowered prior to cutting.  Also, Porter-Cable has the market on dual-action orbital sanders.  I use a six inch with PSA pad and their vacuum attachment.  You still want to wear a mask, but it's the best $36 you'll spend for a sanding accessory.  I found McMaster-Carr to have the best 80 grit sandpaper for the job.  If you're really aggressive and careful, 40 grit may be in order.

[Craig Weis]

Ron

That is correct.

The Hutchins factory lays down a single thin coat of automotive sheet metal flat gray primer over the bare fiberglass hull when she is popped out of the mold. It is fast drying lacquer.

At Palmer Johnson Yachts [$22 to $33 million a pop] we use Krylon flat black foo~foo spray cans to show high and low spots.

We grind the aluminum till 'pretty good' then apply zinc chromate etch primer [over what ever is left of the Krylon], like an aeroplane. Then the 'mud'. A two part All-Grip product and at times as thick as 3 to 4 inches. All faired in nice by our troop of Mexicans over a 5 month period. Then to our spray booth where these kids on a traveling scissor lifts [APES] paint what they can reach. Back on the floor they re-load the pressure pot, move and shoot again.

I have been trying to have them put a overhead track in the spray booth and paint these boats in one shot 360 deg. No luck. Cost about $1 million to repaint the boat.

The result is horrible! Vertical streaks about one meter apart as the newly applied paint "Solvent Wash's" over the drying paint from before, making vertical stripes.
We repaint after the boat is delivered in Florida, France, the Med, Russia, Baltimore, or where ever.

Although "Body in gloss White" is the standard for checking for in perfection for Jaguar, in the boat business a shot of cheap and dirty primer shows imperfections such as air bubbles for knocking down and divits for filling.

Regardless the anti-fouling paint applied over this automotive primer on the bottom of my hull #533 has been just fine since 1996. So about 12 years.

I hope what I just put on lasts another 12 years. I don't think I will. Skip.

[Craig Weis]

Captain Paul,

Wait a second. You mis-read or mis-understood.

The KEEL BOARDS, not the HULL BUNKS are 2 x 4's that are lag screwed through drilled holes of vertical flat bar welded to the 3" channels that are vee formed and hold the trailer longatulinals together and provide a 'landing' for the rubber rollers.

It is these KEEL BOARDS that I SawsAll'ed off.

The HULL BUNKS I lowered out of the way. Allowing the boat to freely sit on the rollers.

I also use 3-M 216U, Production RN Paper A Wt., Open Coat, Fre-cut P220, sand paper disc's that have sticky backs, but because of the dust they don't stick on the sander so I shoot on some 3-M adhesive too. I should use a vacuum but the neighborhood is dusted factory coat brown.

And for those annoying tiny little stress cracks from items bolted through the deck like stanchions and pulpits, and cleats I use 3-M 2601 production paper, P800. Then fill with a crack 'White Creep Sealer' from West Marine.

I think that the grit is 800 and 400, not 80 or 40 as these will leave you with a pile of 'glass dust' on the ground and no boat on the trailer. Our twist-on hub sanding disc's are driven by 10 and 16 inch air 'Hogs' and boy, you better hang on! I have some stitches in my leg from 'Hogging'. LOL.

We use 40 grit to glaze the aluminum plate that is water stained prior to cutting out the pieces for the boat. Feels like a cat's tongue when your done. Interesting, each PJ boat has about 4300 cut pieces, plus all the ancillary brackets and stuff. LOL. skip.

[Potcake boy]

Paul & Skip,
Thanks for your information - looks like I will leave the gray coat regardless but most of the paint is already off - didn't know for sure what kind it was. I have decided to use Petit Hydrocoat because RayMarine says to use only water based paint on their thru-hull transducer. Suppose I should have stuck to good old fashioned "glue it inside with Marintex" that has served me well in the past.
Now about that Palmer Johnson yacht - I had considered one of those but the thought of doing such a huge bottom job in my driveway kind of put me off.
Enjoy your day,
Ron

[Craig Weis]

Why would anyone paint the transducer? It is already a plastic material, or do you have the brass style? Regardless don't paint it.

As for painting the bottom of your Palmer Johnson Yacht in the drive way, figure on a minimum of 120 foot and maximum of 150 foot plus some walking around room for the ladders. Better invite your friends and lots of pizza. No beer though. Maybe the boot stripe ought to be straight. And you'll need a lotta of floor jacks as 104 ton empty is where the weight starts. I think they are 37 foot wide so don't figure on putting the boat in the two car garage overnight. skip.

[Paul]

Skip,
Oh, OK.  thanks for letting me know.

[Craig Weis]

I put a few pictures of my bottom [??!!!], bottom of my boat that is in my Frappr album to show the boat 'a~sitting' and location of the Bi-Data 40 transducer and paddle wheel ahead of the keel and in as flat an area as I can find in the hull. Thanx. skip.

[Paul]

I am having difficulty finding the link you're referring to.  Could you post the link?  Looking forward to seeing these photos.

Paul

[Craig Weis]

Captin Paul Start at the home page. I see a link right now as I'm typing this post. It is in the upper left of this page too.

News: ' CPYOA Homepage '

Now on the bottom of this homepage and in the middle is a box with green lettering in a baloon and it says, "WHERE ARE WE? Find us on the map".

***When you get to the Frappr page you'll have to create then log in with what ever you use to log in to the CPYOA site. Same address will work after you create a account. [It's free] Don't let account fool you.

Click on that box and scroll down a bit more and again click on 'View All 97 pictures' and presto you'll see a whole bunch of pictures of Com-Pacs that owners have posted. So join in and up load some pictures.

Let me know if you arrive here OK.

OHhhhhhh!! Alert-Alert. Forget all that above...
I just figured it out! The link on the bottom of any post of mine goes directly to skip's photos on frappr.
 
Opps! Must be a limit as to how many photos I can upload on Frappr, the early ones that I want to keep have vanished. Gotta go, I'll fix this later.
skip.

[Paul]

Skip,
Thanks, I completely forgot about that feature.  I saw it when it first was added to the site, but never went back to it.  I've slept since then.

Nice boat!  I like the split hatch cover idea.  However, I did not see the photos you are referring to earlier in this thread.

Thanks again.  I'll probably sign up when I have my wits about me. 

Paul

[Craig Weis]

Yea, that drop board in the companionway is a good idea. One you can play with the opening choices for sun, wind, privacy.
And two pieces store so nice, I just slide each one between the 1/4 birth cushion and the hull. Makes it nice when you have a tiny boat. skip.