20 years in water

Why was it left in the water for 20 yrs.?

don't add the barrier coat it's blister all ready so your not going to reverse the damage or make it worse by not having a barrier coat, beside it looks like *************** on a ski boat.

Yeah that platform is ugly but thats what was on it. Wish I had a nice teak platform to replace it with.

Believe me I though about leaving the bottom alone but hate to leave something unfixed. Barrier coat can't be worse looking then the bubble finish.

What I don't know and maybe someone can tell me is whether or not the barrier coat will eventually blister if left in the water, or are you safe after doing it. Large boats stay in the water all the time but maybe they have problems also even after the barrier coat is done.

look at it this way, the blisters make it less prone to fluid drag like a golf ball, the boat probably will do 5 mph more than normal.

Roy,
If you paint and not re gel, just use a marine linear poly paint. Don't worry about a anti fouling. It will be the closest match to the original gel.

BTW, I hate ablative! You may have missed my posts on my problems with it. I'm trying to get it off the bottom of my X55 (wood) because it's failed - alligator cracked/checked and chunks falling off. I've been through 4 different types of paint and varnish remover and it's tough to get off. It doesn't come off like the normal paints or varnish - it just turns into a gooey mess! I even talked to Interlux and they admitted it's tough to remove even with their own remover. I've resorted to sanding the bottom off and just spent the day laying on my back on a creeper with the random orbit. (I hit it first with my 9" disk and a 36 grit in it!!) Hard racing bronze is going back on to replicate the original bottom bronze anti fouling.

Roy,
The Interlux Perfection is a great product. It is one of the linear polyurethanes but it is modified to be more user friendly ("do-it yourselfer") for the roll and tip method. Although you can get very good results from the roll and tip, you can't beat a spray job. If you do decide on paint and not gel, take a look at spraying using one of the marine polys like Sterling or Algrip.

Do plan on flipping the boat. You don't want to try to do the amount of work needed on your back. It's not fun! Even my current bottom paint job would be nicer if I could flip the boat!!

Pete,
Can the paints you mentioned be sprayed on the bottom of the boat, when the boat is left in the water. At present I have a covered dock but no boat lift. I may invest in one but have the boat out of the lake now so it's not a priority at the minute.

Perfection is ok on the bottom if you dont leave it in the water. Don't think I'll use it on the Ski Tique

Roy,
From the pictures you posted, it looks like the blistering problem is severe enough that complete removal of the gel to the waterline will be needed. I don't feel you want to do that on your back. Pulling the engine and tank and flipping the boat will be worth the effort.

Yes, any paint besides bottom paints don't like to sit in the water. Do look at a lift.

The white bottom paints do not have the gloss of the topside paints. You could stop the bottom paint at the water line boot strip but it doen't go all the way to the stem so it would show up by the bow.

The barrier coat is meant to be painted over like a primer so it's not the finish coat. Get back after you talk to the techs.

Roym - My sugesstion is to either flip the boat & re-gel it, or just leave it like it is. By the time you sand off all the blisers (to prepare for paint) you won't have much gel coat left anyway. I sure wouldn't want to do all that laying on my back!

trailer queen or workhorse don't waste your time and do a half hearted job. The extra time to repair and re-gel will be worth it in the long run. Paint is a bandaid and you'll be doing this again somewhere down the road.

I looked the bottom over carefully and decided that flipping the boat isn't something I want to fool with. I also don't need another major project right now.

The bottom is not that bad now that its cleaned up. The worse spots where just below the waterline on sides and stern. I sanded these areas with a rotary sander and 36 grit disc. I also went over the bottom with the 36 grit but not with the intention of stripping the gel coat, just a cleanup and opening any blisters. I then went over everything with my sander and 60 grit paper.

The next step will be waiting for everything to dry, but it didn't seem to be water in the blisters. I did find a few wet ones but not that many.

I'll do whatever else I need to do in the meantime. I will probably barrier coat it and then either spray on gel coat or just white bottom paint. I am not trying to make a showboat just clean it up for use this summer. If it blisters up again I won't worry about it.

Kirk,
Flipping a hull really isn't the big problem that you may think and just takes carefull planning. Being into wood hulls and the frequency they are flipped, I've seen and used several methods. Without the engine, the hulls are relatively light. I've never heard of anyone damaging a hull.

Here on CCfan there are 3 threads I can think of where members flipped their boats. Gary (farmer) used the Don Dannenberg (wood boat restorer) method and built a center overhead shaft with straps going around the hull. When the shaft is rotated, the boat simply rolls over in the straps. Steve (62wood) used a couple of engine hoists and the help of several friends setting the gunnel down on old tires/mattresses. Michelle (sanity) simply got a whole bunch of her boy friends over, made a party of it and they just "manhandled" it over onto old mattresses. The hulls I've flipped, I had the luxury of having two overhead 5 ton bridge cranes and used straps.

A couple of 2x4's clamped side to side (gunnel to gunnel) is a good idea to brace the hull sides.

This spring I anticipate another CCfan member hull flip - Alan's (81nautique) Hurricane!! He's got a overhead "I" beam and of course all of the Chicago CCfan members to help out!

sanity wrote: 8122pbrainard wrote: Michelle (sanity) simply got a whole bunch of her boy friends over, made a party of it and they just "manhandled" it over onto old mattresses. Pete, You just made me laugh really hard and out loud for my co-worker to run in my office and ask what was so funny!

And now your co-worker is convinced your nutz! LOL

Maybe just a boat geek.

I'm nutz too; that's how I knew!