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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

stripping the hull

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AndyR
Deckhand

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Australia
11 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/27/2004 : 00:16:17

Hi everyone its Andy from OZ. after help again. Thanks for all the help re the props for winter storage the boat is out of the water and alls well. I would like to strip a few years antifouling off the hull and am getting conflicting advice re using caustic strippers I'm told its ok and I'm told it can contaminate the gel coat and make for poor adhesion of the primer antifoul. Any experience with this? Thanks (Andy and Barb C25 flying fish melmourne australia)

AndyR
a.rozsa@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au

Edited by - on

tinob
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1883 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2004 : 08:38:41

The bottom of my '83 looked like a pineapple and I thought it was time to start over. Having seen several skippers go the chemical strip route and all the FUN they were having I opted to "sand blast",a generic term, since just about everything, even sand, can be used to remove old paint. I actually used silica (sand) though the pros now prefer soda or plastic beads. However you do it nothing compares to a fresh clean bottom. And to prevent the next accumulation of paint to happen I've used ablative paints since. It takes about three years to wear down the paint to the point that another coating is needed. The stripping exposed a bevy of small blisters that required repair but that's another post.

Val on Calista # 3936

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Gary B.
Admiral

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USA
969 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2004 : 09:47:49

I used a chemical stripper on my boat...it was called Captain Lee's I think. It worked pretty well, I thought, but the temperature had a lot to do with it. Over 70 degrees was good, below 60, worthless, almost. I put a tarp under the boat to collect the "goo" that peeled off. Still had to do some light sanding, but the stripper got the bulk of it. I would do it again.....but the soda blasting sounds good, too, I just have not tried it......

Gary B.
Vice Commodore
s/v Encore! #695 SK/SR

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OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2004 : 10:50:29

Hi Andy,

What's the history of your boat? Was it manufactured by Catalina or by a foreign licensee?
There is a product here called "Peel-Away" that comes in a safe for fiberglass version - but it is very, very messy.
Not sure what the environmental laws are in AU but there but several people on this forum have used an orbital sander attached to a large vacuum cleaner, i.e. "Shop-Vac," to contain the dust. Maybe one of them will post their photos.
Blasting done by those unfamiliar with gelcoat/fiberglass hulls can be catastrophic.

Edited by - on

jm
Captain

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Canada
290 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2004 : 11:14:53

The old fashioned way..

Tools..

A stiff 3" metal scrapper, a throw sheet under boat to catch the old paint chips, lots of 40 to 60 grit sheets of sandpaper, an electric sander (orbital or inline), a good respirator mask (not just a paper mask), a white tyvec suit and gloves, duct tape (to wrap seal around wrists), perhaps a wetvac, definitely a cooler full of Fosters, and time. (about a day)

Process
Start by taking as much of the old paint off as you can with the scraper. Be careful not to gouge, just scrape. Some of outer layers will scrape/peel off in chunks, but not as much as you get closer to the gelcoat. (anti-foul over anti-foul doesn't have the same bond as the first anti-foul coat to gelcoat) Once you've scraped for a couple of hours, switch to the 40-60 grit sandpaper to get down close to the gelcoat base. (the sanding takes the longest amount of time - 4-5 hrs) Your arms will hurt for awhile. When you start to see the white gelcoat, switch to a higher grit (150) wet-sanding paper, wet-sand and wipe with a dry towel, to desired level of paint removal.

People.

You, and/or several strong armed friends, with a tolerance to looking like Papa Smurf at the end of the day. (wear the white Tyvec suit! and mask!)

At the end of the day, consume copious cold Fosters.

Edited by - on

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5906 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2004 : 11:46:09

Scraping off old bottom paint is OK if you don't have too many layers, but I had 20+ years of bottom paint, and scraped for 2-3 days before I started using a chemical paint stripper. Paint strippers work fine, but <u>only</u> use a stripper that is specifically formulated for fiberglass. The strippers that are used on cars and houses are much too aggressive, and will damage the gelcoat.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2004 : 12:06:32

I used the scrape/sand method pretty much as described by JM to remove a few years of antifouling paint instead of using chemical strippers because I didn't know if the chemical stripper would harm the underlying VCtar epoxy barrier coat that I wanted to leave intact. After getting down to the epoxy barrier coat, I reapplied a few more coats of VCtar before applying the antifouling paint.

So if you have an epoxy barrier coat somewhere underneath, you may want to ensure that a chemical stripper will not take that off as well.

Edited by - on

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5906 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2004 : 12:37:03

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">So if you have an epoxy barrier coat somewhere underneath, you may want to ensure that a chemical stripper will not take that off as well.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">I had epoxy barrier coat on my keel, and the chemical stripper removed it as well as the bottom paint. If you use a chemical stripper over barrier coat, you should plan on applying new barrier coat. But, when you're done, you shouldn't have to strip the bottom again for many years. By using an ablative bottom paint, and sanding the old paint before you apply bottom paint each year, the old bottom paint won't build up so much as to require a complete stripping.

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AndyR
Deckhand

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Australia
11 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2004 : 20:08:47

Thanks everyone for all the help. The yard is a bit tight on room and has environmental limitations regarding waste. It seems to me sand blasting is out, I will try a combination of stripper and elbow grease with the scraper and wet sanding collecting the gunk on a tarp for disposal into our pit. Guess when it comes to boats there is no easy way. I will post the hull number and some more info after I go check the boat at the weekend. It is a 1988 hull made in the USA, wing keel with a universal deisel looking as if it was installed ex factory. I understand it was shipped out here new (they forgot to include the rudder so I have a spare temporary one that was made until the original arrived). I have a trailer with it (another sorry story) it was locally made. We are the third owners, mostly day sailing around Port Philip Bay (Melbourne) with a bit of (not very successful) club racing. Previous owner had sailed it across Bass Strait to Tasmania a feat which we weould applaud but are unlikely to copy. There is a pic of 'fish' on the pics page. Thanks again everyone. PS there is quite a fleet of C25's in charter on the gippsland lakes about 3 hrs drive East of here.

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Daniel
1st Mate

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78 Posts

Response Posted - 06/01/2004 : 18:43:49

I used the WestMarine Peel Away stripper. Worked quite well if I left it on a couple of days. I applied with a brush and then put the plastic-coated paper over, left 48+ hours (temps were 60-70F), then used a paint scraper to scrape off. Most came off very easy. There was a thin residue remaining in some areas. I painted on a thin layer, then scrubbed off after 20-30 min. The paint and paper could be disposed in the trash (as directed).

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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.