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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Deck Paint Color

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Cate
Navigator

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199 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/14/2007 : 13:34:36

We want to put a new coat of deck paint on our 1983 C-25, but want to make sure we have the original color. Does anyone know where we can get deck paint to match the original color? Thanks in advance.

1983 C-25, Standard rig, swing keel

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/14/2007 : 13:47:50

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Cate
 We want to put a new coat of deck paint on our 1983 C-25, but want to make sure we have the original color.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

You want to put on a new coat of deck paint? Is your deck currently painted?

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Cate
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199 Posts

Response Posted - 04/14/2007 : 19:34:25

[/quote] You want to put on a new coat of deck paint? Is your deck currently painted?
[/quote]

Yes. The deck is currently painted with very light biege. My partner wants to paint the hatch cover and cockpit seats.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/14/2007 : 21:21:01

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Cate
 Yes. The deck is currently painted with very light biege. My partner wants to paint the hatch cover and cockpit seats.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Cate,

The factory never "painted" the deck which means a previous owner of your boat must have painted it. This means that you'll have to match up the paint as best as you can.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/17/2007 : 09:32:19

Cate,

If the deck is not painted, but is instead colored gelcoat, you might want to contact Catalina Yachts. They could look up in their records the factory colored gelcoat for your boat.

Again, if it is colored gelcoat you want, [url="https://www.minicraft.com/retail/catalinayachts.htm"]MiniCraft[/url] sells factory gelcoat colors. On this site, you can email them your HIN and they will supply you with the proper gelcoat. I see they have it in an aerosol too.

Another company, [url="http://www.spectrumcolor.com/default.asp"]Spectrum Color[/url], also has factory color matched gelcoat. Years ago, I ordered a small jar of gelcoat from Catalina Direct, and they sent me a Spectrum product. Here is the Spectrum gelcoat list for Catalina Yachts.

[url="http://www.spectrumcolor.com/categorytest123a.asp?2manu=CATALINA"]Catalina Yachts Gelcoat[/url]

(PS...I've never used products from MiniCraft so I can't give a direct recommendation either way)

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 04/17/2007 : 10:57:59

Lots of decks were beige gelcoat.

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esailor
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USA
118 Posts

Response Posted - 04/17/2007 : 12:41:32

If it is not painted yet I would advise against painting it unless it looks REALLY BAD. Painted decks never hold, look worse over time and become a maintenance nightmare. I have seen it before. Just my opinion which isn't worth much.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/17/2007 : 12:44:36

I'll second Pete's suggestion...All those in favor?

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 04/17/2007 : 12:46:00

yep

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Stu Jackson C34
Admiral

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844 Posts

Response Posted - 04/17/2007 : 12:55:46

Cate, consider non-skid deck wax available at WM. I'd try that before considering anything else.

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Cate
Navigator

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199 Posts

Response Posted - 04/18/2007 : 06:21:01

Thank you for all the replies. I am going to share them with my partner who came up with the deck painting idea. I think we will try the non-skid wax idea. The colored gelcoat on our boat doesn't look bad at all. There are just some goopy spots from other materials that were used for bedding and caulking. I will recommend we clean those up and wax. Thanks again for the good advise.

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Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 04/18/2007 : 11:12:08

I also believe it's almost never a good idea to paint over gelcoat. There's almost no such thing as gelcoat in such bad condition that it can't be brought back to look better than paint will after it's a couple years old. Even reapplying new gelcoat isn't much more difficult than applying high quality paint, and gelcoat is more durable. Keep in mind cosmetic perfection is best left to those with brand new boats who would rather detail than sail. But all that's just my curmudgeonly opinion.

-- Leon S.

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Jmurfy
Navigator

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USA
176 Posts

Response Posted - 04/19/2007 : 21:06:03

What do you do if you've buffed away to much gel coat in one spot and the blue fiberglass shows?

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Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 04/19/2007 : 23:14:06

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Jmurfy What do you do if you've buffed away to much gel coat in one spot and the blue fiberglass shows?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Get some gelcoat tinted to match the original, and put it back on. (OK, so it's not quite that simple, but I bet it's easier than you're imagining!

) There are several techniques, depending on size, shape, materials, skills, and equipment available.

-- Leon S.

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2007 : 09:02:18

Leon, will gelcoat work in a small "art" air brush?

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2007 : 09:14:30

The gelcoat I've worked with in the past has been the thicker paste-like stuff, but Minicraft advertises an aerosol gelcoat product.

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ct95949
Captain

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Aruba
300 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2007 : 11:22:28

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Leon Sisson
 I also believe it's almost never a good idea to paint over gelcoat. There's almost no such thing as gelcoat in such bad condition that it can't be brought back to look better than paint will after it's a couple years old. Even reapplying new gelcoat isn't much more difficult than applying high quality paint, and gelcoat is more durable. Keep in mind cosmetic perfection is best left to those with brand new boats who would rather detail than sail. But all that's just my curmudgeonly opinion.

-- Leon S.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Here is an old thread on this topic:

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's a Sailnet article titled "Repairing Gelcoat Cracks and Chips" from Don Casey,

"Crazing. Older fiberglass boats sometimes develop a condition known as crazing or alligatoring over large areas of the boat. In these situations the gelcoat becomes a riot of tiny cracks, looking not unlike the shell of a boiled egg when you crack it in preparation for peeling.
There is bad news and good news about crazing. The bad news is that the only effective way to restore crazed gelcoat is to grind away most of it. This is very labor-intensive—both in the grinding and in getting the new gelcoat smooth. You will recall from my previous article that gelcoat has poor flow characteristics, so it must be sanded smooth, then buffed to a shine—a very big job for anything more than a small area.

The good news is crazing is almost never repaired with gelcoat. Instead, you prep the surface for painting, then coat it—particularly the crazed areas—with a high-build epoxy primer. The primer will penetrate and fill the tiny cracks, and the epoxy is strong enough to withstand future stresses on the gelcoat. It normally takes two, and sometimes three coats of primer. Sand the primer with 120-grit paper and apply two coats of a two-part polyurethane. The result is a crack-free, glassy surface without the application of sandpaper, compound, or polish."

What is described above has been my experience. After replacing all the old hardware on the cabin top and filling the holes with epoxy and gelcoat I ended up with sections of old faded non skid and new ,bright, smoothly sanded repaired sections. To make the entire surface new and uniform I rolled on epoxy primer and an Interlux non skid paint (Squall Blue) that matched the lower deck color perfect. That was two years ago, no problems yet.

Edited by - ct95949 on 04/20/2007 11:34:25

tinob
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1883 Posts

Response Posted - 04/21/2007 : 10:50:05

Cate,

I have an '83 C-25 and the original non-skid is white gel coat.

Val on the hard DAGNABIT,#3936, Patchogue, N.Y.

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jkoeh
Deckhand

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USA
14 Posts

Response Posted - 04/23/2007 : 04:12:41

Do you have to repair crazing or is it an unsightly yet harmless condition?

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 04/23/2007 : 07:44:20

Mostly harmless but if you live in an ice zone you might want to tarp the area when not at the boat.

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