Do it Yourself - Boat Bottom Maintenance
by Bob
Dorion
Racing behind the fleet? That was my scenario, until I finally realized
that pounds and pounds of bottom paint were slowing me down.
Of course anyone who leaves his or her boat in the water over the course
of the year knows where the problem lies. Having spent all my boating
years in Ontario around the Georgian Bay area, I knew nothing of anti-foulants
or a strange piece of metal called "zinc". The boat comes
out of the water not long after Labour Day Weekend with a good hosing
and elbow grease to take care of anything stuck to the bottom.
Fortunately my first boat here was an older 16 ft runabout (with an
even older kicker that scared the fish away), so it was relatively easy
to sand the boat bottom. However, my next boat was more challenging,
a 20-year-old, 27 ft Sailboat. The anti-foulant coatings were layered
on so thick from years of repainting, that I decided it was time to
scrap away the old paint in hopes for greater speed.
Step one is cleaning the bottom of old paint. Anyone considering this
job should take sharpening 101, as that appeared to be the secret to
paint removal. Originally I contemplated using a chemical stripper but
was talked out of it by a local boatyard employee (and for good reason
in my case). Once you get the feel of the scraper it works quite well.
I found that full strokes with a sharp long-handled scraper cut through
the layers most effectively. You will go through a few blades, so to
avoid any major gouges it is a good idea to round the corners of the
blades with a file - at least initially.
Step two is sanding down to the Gelcoat. The vibrating sander works
well for the amateur craftsman as opposed to a disk sander that can
quickly and easily cut through the Gelcoat. From a little experience
I knew to wet sand (with a 400 grit), mostly for health reasons as boat
chemicals are nasty.
Cleaning off the bottom paint was a messy job, so to avoid making enemies
with nearby do-it-yourselfers, I hung tarps around the boat to keep
the dust localized and wore protective eye-wear and a mask with filters.
I was lucky enough to have a few good fortunes along the way. Good fortune
number one was having a knowledgeable guy around from the marina. Good
fortune number two was having my son to help. By the end of the project
I was certainly glad the boat was not any bigger! Good fortune number
three was the lack of blistering on the bottom. Blistering is a sure
sign of Osmosis, which is what occurs when your boat soaks up water
if the Gelcoat is not doing its job.
Step three is applying epoxy. Not trusting my sanding completely I decided
to epoxy the bottom with an Interprotect 2000E Epoxy coating, which
added another dimension to an already big job (for me anyway). I don't
know if it helps, but I sleep better. Ha!
Step four, after more sanding, is applying the paint. I applied a few
coats of VC Offshore Teflon anti-fouling paint and in the water she
went. Did it go faster? Yes, at least in my own mind! Would I do the
work myself again? I'm not sure. I've heard of blasting the bottom with
baking soda at great pressure to take off the old paint. Sounds like
a great way to do it.
I've found a few web resources since my adventure that might help you
out should you undertake the D-I-Y job of boat bottom maintenance:
Hopefully, others will write to westcoastsail on this topic
and share their experiences.
Bob
Dorion
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