Gelshield 200 - alternatives?

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Valiant18

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I am in the (slow) process of scraping 30 years of assorted antifoul from the hull of my 'new' Trintella 29. The survey showed her to be bone dry and free from any visible signs of osmosis. However, she has been wintered ashore every year since new and I plan to keep her afloat 10 months of the year.

My plan was then to degrease and sand then apply 5 coats of International Gelshield 200. 5 x £80/2.5ltr = £400.

Looking round for alternatives, Blakes SF200 (solvent free) epoxy primer seems to need fewer coats but I have been told it is tricky to apply properly.

Does anyone know of any alternative epoxy based primers (perhaps cheaper) - 2.5ltrs of 2 pack epoxy mortar from B&Q is only £20 - anyone used that?

Many thanks

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I Gelshielded our boat last year. Yes the cost of Gelshield is enourmous. With hindsight I would have applied straight epoxy with a colour added to identify different layers. I was using West Systems epoxy anyway and it would have proved a lot cheaper and equally effective. If you contact West Systems they have a brochure on how to do the equivalent Gelshield with samples at their office.

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I've just stripped, epoxied and coppercoated our 29ft yacht. Aquarius Marine Coatings, who make Coppercoat, also make a range of epoxy coatings. I think that four coats of epoxy cost us around 200; that paled into insignificance compared to the cost of the Coppercoat itself!

If you want it applying professionally, want the old stuff removing, or just want supplies/advice, try Symblast in Poole. I've found the owner, Paul Hockey, very helpful.

Cheers,

Rich

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This is a job that you only ever want to do once! Having done mine last winter I can agree that it is a considerable effort, although my boat is 34 ft. It would be a false economy to risk some unknown coating, IMHO. I didn't use as much as you suggest for a full six coats.

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When doing the same (fine ;-) ) job, I went for SigmaTar instead. It was then less than 30/2.5l can (base+hardener) and is possibly a bit nastier....

It gives you some 25min to work away the can, so have the roller ready when mixing it. It is thick and smooth, 4 layers gave 0.5mm of total coat. It stays relatively flexible (unlike, say, VC-Tar).

Why on earth that stuff? Because a friend from the club had used it for some amateur osmosis treatment 5years earlier (removed blistered gelcoat, let dry, applied stuff 6 times) and without neither antifoul nor anything else had had no problems. He was a liveaboard who only had the boat out of the water for powerwashing the weed/barnacles off - about 12hrs/year!

And some other people had used it since with similar success.

Only source I know is a paintshop in Gravesend.

chris

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Having just completed a 22' hull with the Blakes product, I found it easy to use and certainly didn't have a problem with it's application. End result is very good and am very pleased with the whole process.

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I used the Blakes epoxy on my last boat. Not to tricky to apply, mind you I did it when it was quite cold. You get a much thicker coating as there is no solvent to evaporate, the over coating times are quite reasonable, the only one to watch is the tie coat, the timing of that is fairly critical. The instructions are clear. I think it is a better product than gelshield or indeed any other solvented epoxy.

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