BARNACLES GONE - NOW WHAT?

H

hank schneider

New member
HI FOLKS
Finally have the barnacles removed - had to sand the bottom to get the little circles. Finished with 200 W/D so the surface is pretty smooth. The finish is glazed white from the sanding. I'm trying to decide between adding bottom paint of some kind or trying to refinish the gel coat. I'm not leaving the boat in the water EVER AGAIN. I think I would do the bottom paint myself but would want someone else to refinish the bottom.
Any comments pro and con. For the bottom paint there is some kind of epoxy sealer that is used. I'll call some dealers locally to see if they do this kind of thing
Thanks
Hank
 
hank schneider":knmzqmy3 said:
HI FOLKS
Finally have the barnacles removed - had to sand the bottom to get the little circles. Finished with 200 W/D so the surface is pretty smooth. The finish is glazed white from the sanding. I'm trying to decide between adding bottom paint of some kind or trying to refinish the gel coat. I'm not leaving the boat in the water EVER AGAIN. ...
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Hi Hank,

I guess I've always felt that a BOAT'S natural place is in the water. Yes, even our trailerable boats. We've bottom painted all our boats so that we didn't have to be concerned with how much time they're in the water... 'cause that's where we enjoy them the most.

If you decide to bottom paint, I suggest an epoxy sealer coat. For the actual bottom paint, see what boat yards locally recommend, but be sure to get something like Micron CSC Extra that stays effective when taken out of the water. Once painted, you'll still need to clean the bottom, but the slime and critters (barnacles) are easy to get rid of.

We've found that warmer water accelerates bottom growth, and the more you move your boat, the better. All the better reason to use the boat a lot! :wink:

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Jim
I agree about keeping the boat in the water - I just won't leave it for 3 months without "safe hull". I'm a traveler to the ocean and can only swing 2 weeks at a time.
H
 
At this point trying to refinsh the gel coat will be a huge undertaking. I would bottom paint it, so if you are tempted to leave it in teh water again- you can!
 
Agree that refinishing the Gel coat is expensive, and time consuming. With agressive sanding (200 or lower is very agressive on gel coat), you have thined the gel coat. I would put on 20 mils of epoxy barrier coat and then put on an ablative bottom paint.

You can rework the gel coat--with 600 and 1200 W & D, then Finesse it from 3m--and get the shine back. But the gel coat will be even thinner.
 
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