Bottom paint and barrier coat

Posted By: Jim I, 94 S25 'H2O', Wilmington, NC
Date: 4/7/09 9:57a.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: I need some bottom paint advice (Matt ('90 S25 Caribbean Soul))

Matt, Regarding mast compression, I can get some pics of through bolting the bulkheads. I basically removed all the screws and bolted the bulkheads to the arch with stainless steel bolts. I then scavenged a bunch of the black scre covers from the unseen areas of the boat to cover the nuts. The screws were only slightly angled down and it was more of me wanted to elimiate the screws in the fiberglass than perform a major repair job. I also mounted a 90 degree fitting to allow the door to clear the VHF antenna connection. I pulled H2O last year to some work in the driveway, mount the 26 RK rudder and repaint the bottom. I ended up spending three months under the boat! The old bottom paint was so bad that I scraped like mad forever and finally went at it with a orbital sander and 80 grit. Other then the flaking sections, the scraping was an exercise in futility, I should have started with the 80 grit. If you do sand, try to devise a method to capture the all the old paint you sand off the bottom. Allowing it to wash off your property into the storm drainage system is bad for the environment and can earn you a hefty fine in some areas. Not to mention making the keeper of the flowers mad. I did two coats of barrier paint and then multiple coats of bottom paint using a roller. Go with bottom paint that works in your area. Mix the paint well using a drill and remix every time you reload the roller tray. To cover the whole bottom, prop up a side at a time and then drop the bunk. Allow that side to dry, add some wax paper to be safe and raise the bunk, and then repeat on the other side. I rigged a wooden support on a floor jack to support the stern as well. I did not do the very bottom of the keel as I did have a good way to support boat off the keel board. I now know why yards charge what they do, it is pretty misrerable work. You will need fine line tape as well as blue painters tape. The fine line tape is pricy but it will allow you the paint up to the boot stripe without it bleeding under. My 94 was previously painted up to the boot stripe but many others leave a small band of gelcoat between the bottom paint and the boot stripe. I think that looks better and is easier to maintain. I used the opportunity to learn the bottom of our boat. I mounted a new Cambell Sailer three bladed prop, ended up replacing the strut bearing and did a bunch of other maintenance while I was at it. I recommend starting well before sailing season so you will have time to finish everything that comes up. Hopefully from now on I will just need to freshen it up. Good Luck, Jim