Bottom Blast, new epoxy and antifoul - I need to lie down in a dark room !

[BlueSkyNick]

Mate of mine, whose opinion and expertise I value, suggested I should get rid of all the old antifoul being as rough as it was.

That's a great idea, I don't really need to spend the money on a temporary inner forestay and all the trimmings, really.

Symblast came along yesterday, took the whole lot back to nice clean GRP (with no blisters in it) and I spent 6 hours sanding the residue. Still another 3 hours work to go when I can move my shoulders around again, as god had intended.

Today I ordered the new epoxy and Micron2 paint - best price I could get, bit of discount etc - bang goes the new TV the wife has been after !!

 

[Blueboatman]

You will be going so fast now, she won't have time to watch TV?

Protecting the boat investment innit, TVs are ten a pe..grand. lol

 

[ralphmalph]

TV's only go down in price so you have saved money not buying now.

 

[mrming]

I'm currently in this particular hell, with the added complications of a cast iron swing keel, Coppercoat and a boat which is very hard to get at to paint. Not to mention the fact that the blasting left a less than satisfactory lunar landscape of half removed epoxy primer from yesteryear.

We finally got the keel finished and back in last weekend, and tomorrow we're building some large timber frames to support the boat without making contact with the hull below the waterline. We're then going to raise the boat up so we can paint it in a one-er.

Only that and two or three days more filling and fairing the hull before it's ready for the actual painting.

I cannot wait to just go back to sailing the b****** thing!

 

[BlueSkyNick]

You will be going so fast now, she won't have time to watch TV?

Protecting the boat investment innit, TVs are ten a pe..grand. lol

Yes, I have convinced SWMBO that it the money better off being stuck to the bottom of the boat than in the bank. I am hoping we will get at least another 0.1 knot STW. especially as we do not have TV on board, its the home one which is playing up !

 

[BlueSkyNick]

I'm currently in this particular hell, with the added complications of a cast iron swing keel, Coppercoat and a boat which is very hard to get at to paint. Not to mention the fact that the blasting left a less than satisfactory lunar landscape of half removed epoxy primer from yesteryear.

We finally got the keel finished and back in last weekend, and tomorrow we're building some large timber frames to support the boat without making contact with the hull below the waterline. We're then going to raise the boat up so we can paint it in a one-er.

Only that and two or three days more filling and fairing the hull before it's ready for the actual painting.

I cannot wait to just go back to sailing the b****** thing!

I was quite satisfied with the outcome of the blasting (having seen some horrors on other boats!), they seem to have a choice of leaving some coating on or going too deep into the gelcoat. Mine had a patchy layer of Gelshield with its distinctive green hue, but it has come off quite easily with the electric sander. I might even rename the boat "Baby's Bum" !

 

[mrming]

My patchy layer is unfortunately harder than nails, and a 60 grade disc on the random orbital sander achieves precisely nothing. We've therefore had to resort to build up the pits with epoxy and microlight filler. To say it's a lengthy and tedious job would be understating the facts!

 

[jonic]

You'll soon be known throughout the Solent as Quick, Slick, Nick and won't give a toss about the TV

 

[pathfinderstu]

hmmmm am in the middle of antifouling and have made an executive decision to leave the old stuff on underneath till next year. am thinking that industrial strength plutonium added to the mix might keep the bottom clean. anybody know where I can get some?
What has happened to all the new technology? I was reading while ago that a new paint has been developed that repels 98%of water thus eliminating the need for antifouling and increasing speed and resistance etc. on marine vessels. Life could be so much more easy.......back to graft 2nd coat on today!:ambivalence:

 

[Robert Wilson]

Mate of mine, whose opinion and expertise I value, suggested I should get rid of all the old antifoul being as rough as it was.

That's a great idea, I don't really need to spend the money on a temporary inner forestay and all the trimmings, really.

Symblast came along yesterday, took the whole lot back to nice clean GRP (with no blisters in it) and I spent 6 hours sanding the residue. Still another 3 hours work to go when I can move my shoulders around again, as god had intended.

Today I ordered the new epoxy and Micron2 paint - best price I could get, bit of discount etc - bang goes the new TV the wife has been after !!

Lucky you. My undersides look more like mrming's after a, so far, 15 hours of scraping, stripping and sanding. The old hull must have been badly laid by Marcon as it's more like a ripple than a smooth sheet. Hence the old primer and a/f has come off most of the hull but has left pockets and stripes. There is NO way any more sanding by me will remove said dimples so I'll have to give up and just prime over it all. Pity, as the effort (sweat, aches, money etc) could have resulted in a finish like best bone china!
At least she should go 0.001kts faster.

As for my shoulders, the agony will ease I trust but the plus side is that I have regained my six-pack from thirty years ago

I should be finished and ready to launch late next week - if the weather holds.

Good luck to you all. Fair winds.

P.S. TV's RUBBISH now, so no need for a new one anyway!

 

[Jim@sea]

I had my hull slurry blasted (24ft boat) which took off the layers of antifouling and exposed the 5 year old Gelshield leaving it a rough surface which was ideal to paint with fresh 2 pack epoxy.
In 1982 I had to treat a 1973 boat for osmosis I then used an Automotive 2 pack Epoxy (International had not started marketing 2 pack and the boat had been painted with single pack)
I am doing the same now. Rather than paying a fortune for Chandlery Paint I am paying £35.42 for 1 1/2 litres of epoxy with 1 litre of hardener. (Bought from motor factors)
1/2 litre will do one side of my hull thats £12 per coat per side. (£24 both sides)
And I have done 6 coats spending around £150.
So as a preventative I dont think its that expensive.

 

[Sans Bateau]

So, Nick, you went to all that trouble and you didnt go for CopperCoat???????

 

[snooks]

Coppercoat and forget, ok the goodies suffer this year maybe next too, but you don't suffer again for many many years.

A lift out and pressure wash and it's done. An hour, may be two a year and it's back to new again!

Another bonus never discussed, is that it's hard not to pass a husband and wife scraping and painting the bottom of their boat without having a smug grin.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

So, Nick, you went to all that trouble and you didnt go for CopperCoat???????

No because I am an old laggard who believes that Coppercoat will never catch on! The real reason is that I don't have time or money to get the hull totally dry for long enough.

By the way, I was working under the boat this evening, and thought to myself that I could really do with a short-arse to help me. Have you got a couple of hours to spare this weekend, Stephen?

 

[pathfinderstu]

Well you wouldn't be smug with coppercoat out here in Fethiye bay sw Turkey as its an extremely high fouling area. I told a friend who had just had it applied after one season that he should send a photo of the growth on the bottom to the makers looked like an inch thick in places. I also tried it and it failed but that's another story.

 

[pathfinderstu]

PS where do you get a wife that's willing to work under a boat.?

 

[Blueboatman]

A wife willing to work under ' the other mistress' ...? Ooer

 

[Sans Bateau]

By the way, I was working under the boat this evening, and thought to myself that I could really do with a short-arse to help me. Have you got a couple of hours to spare this weekend, Stephen?

If I was smart enough to apply CopperCoat to my boat 9 years ago to save that back breaking annual ritual, what the hell makes you think I'm going to come and help you?!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Should be no problem finding a dark room to lay down in, if your telly's bust.

 

[pathfinderstu]

just finished antifouling today..isn't it a wonderful feeling peeling off masking tape