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Yikes - Bootstripes - More work than I want!

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hinmo
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USA
248 Posts

Initially Posted - 11/05/2008 : 02:27:06

Folks - my new (old) 25 was hauled and power washed in my absence. First time down yesterday to cover for the great freeze.

Check out the bootstriping in the enclosed pics, guess I got some work to do. How bout I at least get rid of the white stripe between the bottom paint and first thick blue stripe. I'll paint it blue up to the highest white stripe (or all the way up and eliminate the small white ones in entirety?).

Guess I use paint remover vs. sanding where possible?

I'm trying to simplify...not beautify!

If I keep any of the small white ones, they look to be 1/2 inch. Whats the plan, put masking tape over them to paint adjacent stripes? Sounds tough to sand with masking tape on adjacent ones though!

HHEEELLLP!

"Kukla" '83 FK,SR

Edited by - hinmo on 11/05/2008 06:22:34

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 11/05/2008 : 07:52:45

John,

Why do you want to cover up the white gelcoat?

If appears someone performed a color change on your boot stripe from red to blue. If it were my boat, I'd removed the failed blue paint covering the original stripe and then try to revive the original color. I'd only paint as a last resort.

Edited by - on

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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Response Posted - 11/05/2008 : 08:02:10

It's always hard to tell from photos, but it looks like a previous owner repainted the stripes with a paint not designed for that purpose, and the paint is peeling. It looks like the white is the original gelcoat.

If so, I'd get some paint stripper that is specifically designed for stripping paint off of fiberglass, and strip off the old paint. (You usually have to get it from the kind of specialty paint supplier that sells to auto body shops.) Interlux Paint Company also makes a suitable stripper, but it's more expensive. Then I'd mask the stripes with masking tape designed for use with marine topside paint. Then I'd repaint the stripes with a topside boat paint. (Awlgrip is good, and Interlux makes two types of topside paints - "Brightside" and "Perfection.") Preparation and painting with those paints is more time consuming than using some other paint, but, if you use them, it should look good for a decade or more. If you try to use some other paint, it'll probably become an annual job, because very few paints can stand up to the moisture, dirt and oil at the waterline of a boat.

You can find an application guide for Awlgrip at the following website:

http://www.awlgrip.com/awlgrip_pages/application_guide_guidelines.htm

You can find application instructions for the Interlux Paints at:

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/search.do?refineType=1& refineName=Brand& refineValue=Interlux& refine=1& page=GRID& history=z0sgg6li%7Ctop_category%7Cpage%7EGRID%5EcategoryName%7EPaints%5EcategoryId%7E532& engine=adwords!6456& keyword=interlux paint& match_type=

Whatever paint you use, follow the manufacturer's directions carefully. They generally don't tolerate variations.

Edited by - on

pastmember
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Response Posted - 11/05/2008 : 08:49:57

Raise the water line by painting your bottom paint higher.

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Dave Bristle
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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 11/05/2008 : 12:21:13

My vote is with Don (although I don't know about yesterday

)... The original stripes (red) are molded in--you can see light through them from inside the hull. Strip the blue off, compound the red, and then, if it looks fairly even, apply some Poly Glow, VertGlas, or PTFE polish. Paint should always be the last resort on fiberglass, for the precise reason we're looking at there.

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 11/05/2008 12:22:59

hinmo
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Response Posted - 11/05/2008 : 16:31:40

not bad, I didn't even think of trying to revive the old. I've used plenty of paint stripper, but the specialty type Steve mentioned I am not familiar with. Does it have to be that kind or regular old paint stripper?

Thanks all - good stuff, you have given me hope!

Edited by - on

Happy D
Admiral

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921 Posts

Response Posted - 11/05/2008 : 17:07:11

The original boot top is brown. It's under the blue paint. I would remove the blue paint, polish the boot stripe. Carry the bottom paint up to the bottom of the boot stripe.

I would use a stripper specifically made to use with gelcoat. [url="http://www.dumondchemicals.com/html/peelaway.htm"]Peel Away[/url] is a good product if you have a lot of patience.

It'll look like this when it's done, but lots better.

Edited by - Happy D on 11/05/2008 17:12:42

hinmo
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Response Posted - 11/05/2008 : 17:34:22

i like it

but, the top thin stripe (whatever you call it, blue covering brown, is molded into the hull, right? ....how do I get that white as in your pic?

Edited by - on

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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Response Posted - 11/05/2008 : 18:05:34

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by hinmo
 not bad, I didn't even think of trying to revive the old. I've used plenty of paint stripper, but the specialty type Steve mentioned I am not familiar with. Does it have to be that kind or regular old paint stripper?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Regular old paint stripper will dissolve the gelcoat.

Edited by - on

Happy D
Admiral

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921 Posts

Response Posted - 11/05/2008 : 19:07:24

Oops, I missed that detail. It looks like the thin blue stripe above the original boot stripe is brown molded into the gelcoat also, but it's hard to tell from here.

What year is you're boat?

The older boats had a cove stripe at the top of the hull also. That should also match the boot stripe.

Can you post a picture of the boat from a little further away?

The white in the picture I modified is only that bright because of the computer. You will will have to [url="http://www.shipstore.com/SS/HTML/MKT/MKT2032.html"]clean [/url]the hull and then polish it to get it to glow. It's a lot of work. I can copy you the link if you want a serious workout.

For decent stripes, you might want to use 3M's 218 fine line tape.

Edited by - Happy D on 11/05/2008 19:09:53

Dave Bristle
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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 11/05/2008 : 22:20:44

You can check the stripper labels at Home Dopey--some are OK on fiberglass, and others not. Or you can buy it at a marine store--the prices aren't that different, and you don't need more than a gallon for this.

Personally, I'd leave the bottom paint "waterline" where it is, with the white stripe to accent the boot stripe. But that's just me.

Edited by - on

hinmo
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Response Posted - 11/06/2008 : 00:42:17

"Kukla" is a 1983.
It makes sense to at least eliminate the bottom white stripe, it looks like it gets dirty sitting on the mooring anyway.
So I'll try and strip the blue cover paint, get the original "brown" back
to some sort of respectability, and bring the waterline up to the first brown stripe. Sound like a plan?
Heres more pics:

Edited by - hinmo on 11/06/2008 05:25:36

dlucier
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Response Posted - 11/06/2008 : 08:08:23

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Dave Bristle
 Personally, I'd leave the bottom paint "waterline" where it is, with the white stripe to accent the boot stripe. But that's just me.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

It's me too. I've always thought it somewhat odd seeing either antifouling paint painted high on the hull or a bootstripe that extends below the waterline. Something about this just doesn't look right.

Edited by - on

Happy D
Admiral

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Response Posted - 11/06/2008 : 08:24:19

Hard to tell what's going on there. I would think that the upper thin stripe would continue along the transom if it was original. Maybe someone with an original 1983 can chime in here. Mine is a 77 and has only one wide boot stripe. It looks like your cove stripe was painted blue also.
When it comes to boot stripes, it's totally a personal choice. You can do anything you want. I always thought the reason for the boot stripe was to provide a place for the waterline scum to live without looking like a line of slime. Paint the car to look like dirt and it will always look clean. But, that isn't the case. It is strictly cosmetic.
I think the reason people are putting on the thin stripe is to make the boat appear longer and lower to the water. That's the impression I get when I look at Justin's boat.

Edited by - on

dlucier
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Response Posted - 11/06/2008 : 08:59:16

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by hinmo
 "Kukla" is a 1983.
It makes sense to at least eliminate the bottom white stripe,...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Aesthetically, the white strip of hull color between the waterline and the boot stripe, which in this case is white, help the eye to perceive the boot stripe as a stripe. Virtually all sailboat manufacturers utilizing boot stripes do it this way. Without that separation, it may appear like you have a two-toned hull.

Edited by - on

tinob
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Response Posted - 11/06/2008 : 09:46:23

Calista is an '83 with the brown boot stripe at the water line, and white gelcote ( hull color )above. There is no other stripe above the boot stripe. It seems that what you have is a PO's addition.

Val on Calista, '83,#3936, Patchogue, N.Y.

Edited by - on

Jefffriday
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Response Posted - 11/06/2008 : 10:43:47

I agree with those saying to try to revive the old boot stripe, however, I would have to say compounding and polishing, while alto more work initially, renders a better, more easily maintained finish in the end. I am going to start a thread later this month going through my trials with both the poly-glow and compounding. My boat was in pretty badly oxidized shape when I got her.

this was what she looked like at the survey.

I cleaned her up, lightly wet-sanded the topsides with 400 then 600 and applied 6 coats of poly-glow. It really looked good. I am sorry I don't have any good photos of the poliglow phase. However by the end of the first season, I could see some of the red color was still slightly washed out. The gloss was still pretty good, but the color was not uniformly rich. So at the beginning of the next season I tried to remove the poly-glow, not an easy proposition. I used Poly-glows cleaner remover, ammonia, everything I could think of. It really took allot of scrubbing with scotch brite to get most of it off. So I decided to really get after the original gel coat. This would not have worked if my gel coat was already thin, I had plenty there t work with. So I sanded everything with 220 wet-dry, getting all the oxidation off then 400 then 600 then 1200 the polished it out using the methods and products described in a Practical Sailor article on restoring gel coat: http://www.practical-sailor.com/marine/gelcoat_maintenance.html. I put in a few hours doing this, and my arms got kinda sore using the big buffer, but, now it looks very close to new. All I had to do this fall to clean it and get it feeling super polished again was an application of Meguiars new Marine wax with my orbital buffer.

These are not the best shots but you can see the finish. I think all I will need to do is do a quick wax fall and spring to keep it looking good. here are two before/after shots of the bow (yes I did replace the rub rail)

Edited by - on

dlucier
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Response Posted - 11/06/2008 : 10:43:58

My factory boot stripe on my '80 C25 consists of the same two stripes, small and large, exactly like that shown in the painted over pictures earlier in this thread..

Edited by - dlucier on 11/06/2008 10:52:45

Jefffriday
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Response Posted - 11/06/2008 : 10:46:11

oops. had an extra period after the link to the Practical sailor site. Use this: http://www.practical-sailor.com/marine/gelcoat_maintenance.html

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Happy D
Admiral

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Response Posted - 11/06/2008 : 11:48:16

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">My factory boot stripe on my '80 C25 consists of the same two stripes, small and large, exactly like that shown in the painted over pictures earlier in this thread..<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Well how about that. It must have been an option? Extra trim package or something like that? I thought they were all the same.
Interesting.

Thanks for the postings.

Edited by - on

hinmo
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Response Posted - 11/06/2008 : 14:58:32

I sent an email to the previous owner to see if he modified the original stripes.
I am still leaning towards losing the lower white stripe (gets in-water stained)and anti-fouling to the wide bootstripe
and then trying to recon the that brown boot stripe and top thin one (cove stripe?)

Edited by - on

bigelowp
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Response Posted - 11/07/2008 : 09:02:35

For what it's worth . . . I sail in anarea whee the water has alot of "scum" which causes the white hull to appear tan/brown by mid season. As I am also at a mooring, the boat motion is greater than if she were docked. My solution over the years has been to raise the waterline and then use a contrasting anti-fouling paint for the boot stripe. My boat has a blue bottom and black boot stripe. As I am moored in "dirty" salt water and am not a racer I use ablative paint. The boat looks great all season with minimal maintenance

Edited by - on

Happy D
Admiral

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Response Posted - 11/07/2008 : 12:48:37

John,
Just to keep the termimology strait, the cove stripe is just below the rub rail.

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hinmo
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Response Posted - 11/07/2008 : 16:31:21

Hap - gotcha.

BTW Bigelow - I like your suggestion...any pics you can post or send me?

Edited by - hinmo on 11/08/2008 03:10:12

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