Epoxy, is it worth the hassle?

[James W]

Evening all,

I am currently working through the list of things to do on the boat, but the priority is to get her on the water as soon as possible and so hull, engine and mast are the priorities.

As the engine makes its slow progress towards being fitted, I have turned my attention to the hull. There's a little bit of filling and fairing to do, removal and refitting of skin fittings and removal and re-fitting of the skeg just to make sure, but the hull itself is in good nick. It's been stripped back to the gel coat (although I don't know if it was scraped or sand blasted) and the keel painted in red oxide.

So the question is whether it's worth Gel Shielding the hull? She's a 40 year old Tomahawk 25, but has spent half of her life on a trailer and as such, should be nice and dry. I can get hold of some keenly priced Gel Shield, but the process seems time heavy and I don't have huge amounts of time.

If it's worth doing then i'll go ahead, but I just wanted your thoughts if possible.

Thanks,

James

 

[yoda]

If the hull is already down to clean gel and dry (get a moisture meter on it) then yes as you probably won't get the chanc again.

Yoda

 

[Hydrozoan]

Yes, opportunity and a dry hull was why we did it preventatively about 10 years ago - but with Blakes SFE. A fair bit of work (2 thick coats and primer, on a 32) but not too bad - and we got a nice finish and no subsequent problems. Never regretted it.

 

[Concerto]

OK you have a 40 year old boat. But if you have the opportunity to choose between 2 identical boats except one was epoxied, which would you choose? Thats right the epoxied one. Think like a buyer and provide what they expect to find. In your case they would be looking for an epoxied hull, not original engine, not original sails, replaced standing rigging, recent electronics, etc.

 

[Jim@sea]

I found painting a boat hull (boot-topping and below) with a 2 pack epoxy is really easy. You dont have to get a perfect finish like you would if you were hand painting a car or van. 2 pack epoxy is a super paint to apply with a roller or brush. It dries that quickly that by the time you have done one side you can start again. Its very quick to apply with a roller although I prefer a brush as you get more paint on, the object being depth of protection rather than finish, and in any case you will end up putting antifouling on and a perfect mirror and brushmark free finish will be lost.
Of course there are other makes of 2 pack epoxy similar to gelshield which can be cheaper and fortunately I pass a Paint Motor Factors every day and as I enjoy painting with a brush and that with Epoxy they recommend 4 - 6 coats my hull has now had 10 coats.
I am perhaps a bit over the top as one of my first boats had been treated for Osmosis when it was 6 years old and when I bought it 3 years later it was coming through again. This was 1982 and Gelshield and 2 pack epoxy were not being marketed for boats but we were using 2 pack at my bodyshop and I used that and did it properly.

 

[Tam Lin]

I agree with the others. This is your chance, take it.

 

[rob2]

Yes, agreed - a day at most to do it. Use a roller, it's much quicker than brush. Incidentally, if the hull were scraped there may be a few marks from the corners of the scraper but if blasted the surface will have a slight eggshell texture from the impact of the abrasive. Blasting is good as you don't have to sand the surface to get the best mechanical key.

Rob.

 

[James W]

Well, that seems pretty unanimous!

Another little job to get sorted whilst there's a bit of warmth left then.....

 

[davidej]

Another little job to get sorted whilst there's a bit of warmth left then.....

but watch the humidity - a lot of damp in the air this time of year.

 

[Chris_Robb]

but watch the humidity - a lot of damp in the air this time of year.

Thats the beauty of Gelshield, Its incredibly tolerant to weather - yes, a pain to have to put on 6 coats, but you can leave it for months between coats. I understand that the 2 coat solutions are very time critical and you have to be very careful with the temperature and weather (humidity).

Go for it - its just tedious, not hard work, if just scraped back, you will need to sand with a good orbital sander (the round type) - this is much harder work. Gelshield allows you to take your time.

 

[Hydrozoan]

... I understand that the 2 coat solutions are very time critical and you have to be very careful with the temperature and weather (humidity)... .

Yes, the Blakes Solvent Free Epoxy we used has restrictions - but IIRC one of the concerns is that if you don't get it right, you have to lightly abrade any surface 'bloom' between coats. The benefit is, however, having to apply just two coats. We carefully watched the conditions and it was fine. In any event, the OP is I understand committed to using a different system.