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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

How do I know when I need bottom paint?

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JimGo
Admiral

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USA
962 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/23/2012 : 13:36:39

I spoke with the owner of our boat's soon-to-be marina late last week, and he said that he'll be turning the water on at the marina on April 1, and that we could put the boat in the water at any time after April 1. While I'm anxious to start our season, I'm also trying to make sure I have most of the major maintenance work out of the way, and (weather permitting), I should be able to have the boat moved and launched shortly after Easter. However, my one sticking point in all of that is whether I need to paint the bottom. The bottom is rough, and could probably use to be scraped down, faired, and done properly, but we don't have the budget for that this year. Next year, though, I can see us trying to get that done. Thus, I'm rather reluctant to do a thorough bottom painting this Spring, unless I really need to. Can anyone give some guidance as to what to look for in the bottom paint that might suggest that it needs to be touched up? I've heard that most folks in this area can get 2-3 seasons out of a painting...

I don't have any good pictures of the bottom paint, though this one gives an idea of what it looks like:

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

- Jim
Formerly of 1984 C25 named Dragon Wing

NOTE: In my case, PLEASE don't confuse stars/number of posts with actual knowledge. On any topic.

Edited by - on

Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 03/23/2012 : 14:48:29

If it is an ablative (rub it with a rag and see if it comes off) and everything is covered, the the hull should be ok. If it is hard or a copolymer it might be hard to tell. You could put a coat of an ablative over it after scrubbing and scuffing it. A good scrubbing would be enough prep to topcoat an ablative. If you do that, you might hit the accessible rust on the keel with a grinder or sanding disk, top the spots with Rustoleum rust binding paint, and then apply bottom paint. A couple of teardrop zincs on the keel will also help preserve your system in saltwater. Definitely address the keel by next year.

Edited by - Dave5041 on 03/23/2012 14:51:13

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5902 Posts

Response Posted - 03/23/2012 : 15:00:12

I've seen much worse bottoms. If I were you, I'd spend a couple hours wet sanding it, just to smooth it a little and clean the top coat of dirt and oil off it. Then I'd spray a little rust reformer on the rusty parts of the keel. Then I'd roll a single coat of ablative antifouling on it. You should be able to do it all in a day or day-and-a-half.

Edited by - on

JimGo
Admiral

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USA
962 Posts

Response Posted - 03/23/2012 : 18:55:46

Thanks. The rustoleum was already on my "to-do" list, albeit rather low on the list. The hull still loooks pretty well covered from what I can see. I'd really like to find about a pint or so of bottom paint, so I can hit the keel, the leading edge of the hull, and the rudder.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to sand the bottom at this marina, which also adds to the complications here, but your suggestion is a good one, Steve.

Edited by - on

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 03/24/2012 : 13:29:31

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by JimGo
 ..I'm not sure if I'm allowed to sand the bottom at this marina, which also adds to the complications here, but your suggestion is a good one...
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Jim,

Some marinas prohibit certain DIY work, and some states prohibit bottom paint removal and even power washing. NJ has a reputation for being tough, in fact I heard that they've passed a law preventing powerwashing unless you have a catch tank to capture everything, which takes DIYers out of the game and give marinas a monopoly on bottom washing. I'm not sure when that law goes into effect. Presumably they would be just as tough about sanding, soda blasting, etc.

But if you are allowed to sand yourself, you want to capture the dust for your own safety (and to comply with EPA and OSHA standards). You can rent special sanders with vacuum systems, but I had good luck with my own gear last year. On a whim I bought [url="http://www.harborfreight.com/1-4-quarter-sheet-orbital-hand-sander-40070.html"]this cheap palm sander from Harbor Freight[/url], which had a nice vacuum interface:

<center>[url="http://www.harborfreight.com/1-4-quarter-sheet-orbital-hand-sander-40070.html"]

[/url]</center>

I figured that if it got too contaminated to reuse, I'd throw it away and buy a new one next time. I used my pre-existing Shop Vac with some filter bags that I bought from HF. The hard "wand" at the end of the Shop Vac made it awkward moving the sander, so I bought a 48" flexible pool filter hose with rubber tips:

<center>

</center>

This provided a great seal and lightweight flexibility as a coupler between the sander and Shop Vac.

The last thing I had sitting around was an old smart power strip with a "sensing" outlet that would turn on the other outlets when there was current draw. It's from the pre-Energy Star days when you'd need to manually turn your computer monitor off when you shut down your computer. It made things easier, because it would power the Shop Vac on and off automatically when I switched the sander on/off.

Edited by - on

JimGo
Admiral

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USA
962 Posts

Response Posted - 03/24/2012 : 15:20:40

Rick,
Thanks for the great ideas! I have a small sander that I could use. I'll need to look into whether I can scrape the bottom or not. Probably won't do it this year, but good to know for next year.

Edited by - on

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 03/24/2012 : 16:08:24

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by JimGo
 Rick,
Thanks for the great ideas! I have a small sander that I could use. I'll need to look into whether I can scrape the bottom or not. Probably won't do it this year, but good to know for next year.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I forgot to mention that I did a large amount of scraping before I sanded. You should definitely put down a drop cloth (I was told that this is an EPA requirement). A plastic one works well, because you can sweep the chips off easily. Even a little bit of scraping generates a surprisingly large number of chips, and if you're on gravel like me it's impossible to recover them unless you use a drop cloth.

Edited by - on

JimGo
Admiral

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USA
962 Posts

Response Posted - 03/24/2012 : 18:47:22

Thanks! I'd probably go with a plastic drop cloth so I could bundle it all up for proper disposal, and because I'm lazy and that seems the easiest (and most environmentally friendly) way to accomplish the task.

Edited by - on

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