Association Forum - New Hull color. A good idea?

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

New Hull color. A good idea?

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

LTJGNoland
Deckhand

Member Avatar

USA
18 Posts

Initially Posted - 02/07/2006 : 00:28:26

So since you guys reply so fast I'll pose another question. I am considering a few upgrades to my C-25 including replacing running rigging from wire to line, the addition of a roller furling head sail, and repainting the entire hull. My question: is it bad form, or does it devalue the boat in any way to paint the hull another color than the original white? I think the look of some of the darker colors is quite distingushed and would not show any close encounters of the shiphandling kind as readily. Am I on the right track, or should I leave well enough alone?
I will be putting the boat up for sale late in the year in preperation for a move out of San Diego and possibly looking into a liveaboard cruiser if I get orders to someplace that would facilitate the venture, and I don't want to screw up and make the boat harder to sell by making an easily avoidable mistake. Thanks again for the advice!

LT Matt Noland
San Diego, CA

Edited by - on

Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 02/07/2006 : 00:52:26

Matt N,

Here are my opinions on painting over gelcoat. Don't. <ul>
<li>A paint job good enough to enhance the resale value of your boat will cost far, far, more than it will add to the value.</li>
<li>Painting a hull a drastically different color does not hide future scrapes -- it makes them more obvious when they expose the contrasting color gelcoat behind a few thousandths of an inch of paint.</li>
<li>Darker color hulls reflect much less solar heat than lighter ones, so the cabins of dark boats tend to be a lot hotter on sunny days.</li>
<li>Those boat hull paints which are prefered for their high gloss and durability are very thin. Even the slightest scratches show through unless filled and faired flawlessly before painting.</li>
<li>Those same paints are also quite toxic, and require specialized knowledge, skills, and equipment to apply safely and successfully.</li></ul>On the other hand, Catalinas came from the factory with thick, high quality gelcoat. No matter how bad you think your original gelcoat looks, you will be amazed at the improvement possible with rubbing, buffing, and waxing.

Rest assured, others with have differing opinions in this matter.

-- Leon Sisson

Edited by - on

Justin
Admiral

Members Avatar

502 Posts

Response Posted - 02/07/2006 : 08:34:35

I agree with Leon. If you plan to sell later this year, I would think that repainting the hull would cost a lot more than you would get back in the sale. I bought my C-25 exactly one month ago today and I love my navy blue hull, but I did notice even on these colder winter days that the hull absorbs the sun’s heat. Don’t mind now, but not looking forward to it on the 90+ F summer days. I don’t know how long ago the previous owner painted the hull, but it is in excellent shape. It was originally brown, which I would have wanted to paint over as well. The navy blue is very unique and a real eye catcher, but it will have its down sides. I’ll just deal with them since in my opinion, the pros out weigh the cons and the boat came that way.

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 02/07/2006 : 09:53:24

When I look at used boat ads if it says the boat has been painted I stop reading and move on to another ad.
IMHO The wire running rigging is an indicator of a poorly maintained boat or a naive owner, poorly maintained because they are probably original and therefore years over due to be replaced or naive because the owner does not recognize the advantages of rope over wire. (Catalina stopped using wire years ago.) The technology advanced past wire years ago, contact layline.com, they are honest, Nationals Sponsors, and know what you need. Then contact catalinadirect.com and get the new sheaves you need for the rope halyards, (if you have wire halyards then your sheaves are shot by now anyway). Running new rope halyards back to the cabin top is something that will help your boat sell.

Edited by - on

RickStevens
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
62 Posts

Response Posted - 02/07/2006 : 17:18:12

Mr. Noland's question brings up a secondary question: I am currently planning on cleaning/repainting the non-skid using the "special" abrasive paint available for that purpose. I'm doing this because I'm having her pulled and the bottom painted this spring. She currently has a "racing stripe" matching the bottom paint - dark blue - and I want the non-skid to be in a complementary blue gray color.

I do NOT want to screw things up, but it would add a nice touch. My question: What would you folks recommend regarding the non-skid paint?

Edited by - on

mashedcat
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
194 Posts

Response Posted - 02/07/2006 : 17:56:14

Two boat paint guys advised me not to use paint with abrasive in it on my nonskid surface. Just use topside paint and add the dulling agent for the brand you use. I had pretty poor luck with Pettit that I bought. The first batch of dulling agent didnt disolve in the paint as per the instructions. (I followed the instructions to the letter). Called Pettit for help and they told me to take it to the paint store and have them shake it. No help. This was approximately June 15. They sent a replacement paint that arrived one week later and the hardener arrived the end of august. I had even told the guy i talked to at pettit that is was trying to accomplish everything on schedule to leave in two weeks but my plea fell on deaf ears. the paint didnt hold up that well either. West Marine was where i bought the paint the first time, and they got me some in time to get on my trip, but pettit had no sense of urgency about fixing their bad. The original dulling agent was the problem.

Edited by - mashedcat on 02/07/2006 18:07:38

Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 02/07/2006 : 20:47:11

I agree with these guys almost 100%. If you were to have the hull professionally done and clear coated, coated and all that professional jazz you probably wouldn't have the scratching problems from your normal bumps and bruises. Hitting the dock at six knots would be a different story. Only problem here is that you could buy 3 catalina 25's maybe even 4 for the price of one paint job

Edited by - on

ct95949
Captain

Members Avatar

Aruba
300 Posts

Response Posted - 02/08/2006 : 08:16:15

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">My question: What would you folks recommend regarding the non-skid paint?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Not Renamed Yet" - '82/C25/SK/TR
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Last winter I painted(yes painted

)my cabin top with Interlux non-skid Interdeck paint 'Squall Blue'.This coler is an unbelievably close match to the light blue original gelcoat.I had removed a lot of old hardware and filling all the holes made a lot of smooth spots in the non skid pattern.This paint has held up good,is very non skid and matches the blue gelcoat on the deck.When I rebed the stanchion bolts next winter I will paint the deck too.

Edited by - on

RickStevens
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
62 Posts

Response Posted - 02/08/2006 : 12:32:34

As always, thanks to all on this forum.

Also - Kudos to the gang that got the new site up and running. Now I have to make like a bunny and print all those old bookmarked pages before they go away, but this is nice.

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.