bottom job tips for a new owner

[Shayne]

Hi Everyone. I have a 65 my 1989 which i purchased 2 years ago. Purchased with over 1000 blisters and i pealed and replaced the bottom. 2 years later i want to haul and paint again. Requesting any suggestions as far as paint brand, industry professionals.... I am likely going to playboy marina in ft lauderdale. Anything i should insist on like sanding or soda blasting? I assume 2 coats is best? Anything else i should inspect (struts, cutlass) or do while it hauled out? Stabilizers dont seem to be leaking at all. Thank you.

[Freestyle]

After a few of these rodeos, here is my advice.

1. Hire a surveyor to bid out and supervise the work. Pay an expert by the hour and take yourself out of it. The yard will sell you on buying things you are unqualified to decide on both affirmatively or negatively. Someone without a profit or savings incentive can give you the advice you need. It will also help you to have a surveyor as a reference when you go to sell and a knowledgeable buyer is doing due diligence.

2. Ask and demand a plan for overspray. The damage to paint and canvass caused by yard spray can be eternal and cost prohibitive to remedy.

3. Be prepared for added work and its cost. See #1 for deciding if it is fair or necessary.

4. Spend money on something that improves the boat (underwater lights, thruster, new depth finder) that you can show your wife makes the boat better than when you bought it.

Bruce

Freestyle
1986 62 CPMY (54MY with cockpit extension)
Tampa

[Shayne]

Thanks Bruce.

[Avia8tur]

Shayne,

I'm looking at a boat that will likely need (eventually) a removal of all old bottom paint. In the event I find blisters (likely), I assume you meant you removed the gelcoat down to laminate. What product/process did you do to prep the laminate and then barrier coat?

Thank you in advance, didn't mean to highjack the thread but since you've done it I thought I'd ask.

Tom

[Westfield 11]

In addition to bottom paint, you might want to have the running gear coated too. Shaft,struts, wheels and tabs can all become befouled along with the bottom, especially in South Florida.

[Shayne]

Don't recall the products but soda blasting was insufficient to resolve the blisters and i had to have the bottom pealed. I think they took about 1/8 of an inch or so. Doug Mcleod 561-262-5337. I was very very happy with his job. Honest guy, unlike the soda blasting company which basically took the job knowing that their work would be insufficient given the severity of the blisters.

[rustybucket]

I guess I'm confused. You say 2 yrs ago you got rid of all the blisters... did you do a barrier coat after you fixed everything? What type of bottom paint did you use?

Maybe it's just me, but if you stripped and repaired all the blisters and properly barrier coated, I would not expect to find any blisters at this haulout. I also wouldn't really expect to have to strip off the single layer of bottom paint. I would probably pressure wash and depending on the condition of the bottom paint decide what to do from there (re-coat or strip and re-coat).

Am I not understanding the situation?

[Photolomy]

I had mine soda blasted, and it did clean up nice for bottom painting, but it did nothing for blisters. I didn't think soda-blasting had anything to do with fixing blisters, or am I wrong? Next time, I plan on dealing with the larger blisters, but I wasn't going to do anything about the numerous small ones. What did it cost to peel and barrier coat?

[dsharp]

I guess I'm confused. You say 2 yrs ago you got rid of all the blisters... did you do a barrier coat after you fixed everything? What type of bottom paint did you use?

Maybe it's just me, but if you stripped and repaired all the blisters and properly barrier coated, I would not expect to find any blisters at this haulout. I also wouldn't really expect to have to strip off the single layer of bottom paint. I would probably pressure wash and depending on the condition of the bottom paint decide what to do from there (re-coat or strip and re-coat).

Am I not understanding the situation?

I don't think he's talking about removing the barrier coat or whatever product they used after repairing the blisters. He's just asking for an opinion about bottom paint and any additional work while hauled out. To answer his question, You always want to check the running gear and thru hulls. You may want to re-pack the rudder stuffing boxes while hauled out. On some of the motor yachts they can be a challenge to get to. I would ask other owners in the area to hopefully find a yard that you can trust as well as which paints work well for the area. You also want to replace the zincs. Soda blasting is not aggressive enough to remove or break open any blisters.

[jim rosenthal]

Right. You need to water blast or sandblast the hull to remove blisters. The alternative is to peel it. This discussion has been going on for years, ever since Hatteras Yachts patented the blistering process (LOL). Some observations, for what they are worth:

-some of this has to do with the age of the boat. My 1971 Hatteras was covered with blisters. They were in the outside layer of gelcoat only (at that time, Hatteras used two layers, in different colors) The treatment for my boat was to needle-gun the bottom, thereby removing all the loose gelcoat, dry it (for months in the winter), blast it to get a clean bottom and toothed surface, fill and fair the blisters, and apply six coats (might have been eight) of Interprotect, then repaint the bottom. A few years later, the boat was laid up for new engines, and the bottom was soda blasted, and everything was holding up fine. Since then, just periodic repaints.

-opinions vary on peeling the bottom. Many people (not everyone) feel that it is too aggressive and it removes too much of the original structure. It wasn't necessary in my boat's case, but boats vary in the severity of blistering. I think operator experience, length of time doing it, and references you can check really matter.

-drying time is important as the drier the hull, the better everything will stick together. My boat was tented and sat for weeks with fans running under it to thoroughly dry the hull, which I think was critical in getting it all to stick together properly.

-hulls can be filled and faired with a lot of different systems: West epoxy, 3M vinylester, Interprotect. I have heard good things about all of them. Again, I think the skill of the operator and their experience with a particular material system makes all the difference.

-any other underwater work should be done at the same time- replacing through hulls, repacking rudder ports, changing out cutlass bearings- all of it.

-pick a bottom paint that is known to work in your area on your type of boat. Not only hull type, but speed and use. What stays clean on a convertible which is run at twenty or thirty knots may not work on a MY which rarely sees twelve.

-start early in the fall season for this kind of project. You will get more drying time. See above.