How long to scrape and re antifoul a 26ft bilge keel sailboat?

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Andrew E

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Roughly how long would it take for an amateur to scrape and re antifoul a 26ft bilge keel sailboat? Previously I've scraped a little 19ft motorboat which took bloody ages (weeks!!), not helped by the boat being on a road trailer and the chines. I'm hoping a sailboat doesn't take quite so long!

The reason I ask is because I'm currently living about 450 miles from the boat. Most boatyards are reluctant to let people sleep on their boats, so I'm trying to work out if it's economical to book into a hotel for X amount of days, against the cost of paying someone local to do it for me. I'm thinking the latter might be true.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.
 
Almost impossible to say how long the surface preparation would take as it's so dependant it's present condition and on your standards. Thankfully, I note from a recent thread, there are others around like me who don't make a big fetish of preparation. Maybe 2 to 4 hours. Regarding the actual painting, I find that I can apply one coat to my 29 ft. Bilge keeler in around 3 hours. You need another half hour to do the boot topping. Masking up is included in these times.
 
Does it really need scraping? That is a big job and difficult to estimate as it depends on how much is on there, how good your technique and work rate - but is days rather than hours. If it really needs doing then probably cheaper to have it blasted rather than drive 900 miles and pay hotel bills.

Otherwise, just scrape off flaky bits and then antifoul. Day's work.
 
We do our cat two hull 2 tides 2 people .

Sharpen a couple of garden hoes .Pick the right type flat no lumps on the side very quick then use a power washer to clean , next tide let it dry before painting or do alf on tide and Half Next
 
It takes the wife about 3 hours to whiz around our triple keeler with anti foul rollers so I'd say about that again to scrape off the worst - having said that wouldn't it be a lot easier to get a yard (assuming you are ashort in one) to just blast it off so that its ready to be painted (minus a quick scuff over) when you arrive?
 
My 18 foot boat is on a half tide berth. It took me one tide to scrub and scrape her hull down with scotch pads ready to antifoul then about an hour and a half to paint it. Sometime in the future I may find the cash to have the hull grit blasted back to the gel coat but it'll cost me about twice what I paid for her.... In the meantime, scraping away the loose stuff is good enough for me: I'd rather go sailing than spend time and money getting things just so,
 
Thanks for the replies. To be perfectly honest I don't think it needs scraped back to gelcoat, although I'm not 100% sure when the last time it was taken back to gelcoat as I've only owned the boat for 9 months and she's nearly 40 years old.
From what I can see from the water she's pretty badly fouled, but hopefully nothing a pressure washer can't sort out. I'm fully prepared to take her back to gelcoat, but to be honest I'd rather get it done quickly and get out sailing than spend a summer scraping.
 
Not entirely comparable but a guide if you don't need to scrape all the existing antifouling off. Relates to a single fin keeler with a skeg. Waterline length 24 feet.

Pressure wash immediately after lifting out.

Rub down rusty bits on keel and a couple of splashes of primer as required. Maybe an hour or so. But you've got to let the primer dry between
coats, ideally overnight at least. Double up for twin keels. Also treat hull keel joint(s) as necessary ( I clean them up, prime, wipe a thin sliver of sealant all along the joint and ideally another cost of primer), but note you've got to let the sealant go off before painting.

Rub down entire hull and keel with wet and dry used wet. Messy but safer than dry sanding. Just did this. 3 hours. Extra for extra keel? You could leave this out if you're not bothered at all how smooth the final finish is this time.

Two coats of antifouling can be done on a warm day but it's better to let the first dry overnight if you can. Ideally you'd do the boottop on a different day as well. But last year with a helper we did both coats and the boottop in a day. Masked up for the boottop and cut in thickly with the antifouling when the boottop was touch dry.

Wouldn't have been possible if it had rained..
 
I used to do our triple-keel 24 footer over a weekend, not working particularly long hours. That was giving a very thorough rub-down (the primer would show through in places) but not a full scrape back to the gelcoat. Rub down on Saturday, paint on Sunday.

Best tool for the rub down is a mesh drywall sander on a pole, together with a large bucket to rinse it in and a hose to keep everything nice and wet. You get to stand next to the hull instead of grovelling under it, you use your back and shoulder muscles instead of arms which is much less tiring, and with plenty of water there is no dust and no need to mess about with suits and masks.

Pete
 
prv said:
I used to do our triple-keel 24 footer over a weekend, not working particularly long hours. That was giving a very thorough rub-down (the primer would show through in places) but not a full scrape back to the gelcoat. Rub down on Saturday, paint on Sunday.

Best tool for the rub down is a mesh drywall sander on a pole, together with a large bucket to rinse it in and a hose to keep everything nice and wet. You get to stand next to the hull instead of grovelling under it, you use your back and shoulder muscles instead of arms which is much less tiring, and with plenty of water there is no dust and no need to mess about with suits and masks.

Pete
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+1

This, I am amazed that PBO hasn't done an article on using sanding mesh to remove antifoul. To do a 26 foot boat back to the primer , assuming 10 years of cruddy antifoul layers I would say around 4 to 5 hours work with 60 grit mesh. The only fiddly bit is working around the waterline. Depending on the keel state you may have to re-prime, but 2 coats of something like cruiser uno on a warm day can be done in 2-3 hours. if you have a good weather window you could easily be done in a weekend. Using mesh on the end of a sanding pole makes the job a whole lot easier than any other method ( including using an electric sander) and since its wet the dust is safely managed. 60 grit silicon carbide mesh will cut through old antifoul like a hot knife through butter, and it costs around £7 a roll , one roll will last you years.
 
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stevepick said:
+1

This, I am amazed that PBO hasn't done an article on using sanding mesh to remove antifoul. To do a 26 foot boat back to the primer , assuming 10 years of cruddy antifoul layers I would say around 4 to 5 hours work with 60 grit mesh. The only fiddly bit is working around the waterline. Depending on the keel state you may have to re-prime, but 2 coats of something like cruiser uno on a warm day can be done in 2-3 hours. if you have a good weather window you could easily be done in a weekend. Using mesh on the end of a sanding pole makes the job a whole lot easier than any other method ( including using an electric sander) and since its wet the dust is safely managed. 60 grit silicon carbide mesh will cut through old antifoul like a hot knife through butter, and it costs around £7 a roll , one roll will last you years.
Click to expand...

I'm unfamiliar with drywall sanders. When I google "drywall sander" , I see a selection of power tool drywall sanders, but I presume that's not what you mean. Could you post a link to a pic of a drywall sander that you would fit/tie to the end of a pole and rinse in a bucket?
 
Andrew E said:
Roughly how long would it take for an amateur to scrape and re antifoul a 26ft bilge keel sailboat? Previously I've scraped a little 19ft motorboat which took bloody ages (weeks!!), not helped by the boat being on a road trailer and the chines. I'm hoping a sailboat doesn't take quite so long!

The reason I ask is because I'm currently living about 450 miles from the boat. Most boatyards are reluctant to let people sleep on their boats, so I'm trying to work out if it's economical to book into a hotel for X amount of days, against the cost of paying someone local to do it for me. I'm thinking the latter might be true.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.
Click to expand...

Geoff Pack, onetime editor of Yachting Monthly, opined that antifouling should not be removed until such time as it provided a step wide enough to be used for boarding from the water!
 
MonniotC said:
I'm unfamiliar with drywall sanders. When I google "drywall sander" , I see a selection of power tool drywall sanders, but I presume that's not what you mean. Could you post a link to a pic of a drywall sander that you would fit/tie to the end of a pole and rinse in a bucket?
Click to expand...


Screwfix sell them :
http://www.screwfix.com/p/pole-sander-260-x-85mm-85-x-260mm/33586?_requestid=86115

You tear a strip of silicon carbide sanding mesh ( see here: https://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-405780...rE1ZjxtstrKcvR3dQ_7Cer7Gzj1ZqNJKQAaAiya8P8HAQ) and clamp that onto the universal jointed pad on the end of the pole. Pole and a mesh roll - about £25 or so ( I also bought some 120 mesh for finer work, and working around the waterline, one roll lasts for ages, once one side of the a piece has worn out reverse it , a few strips will do a whole boat.
 
stevepick said:
Screwfix sell them :
http://www.screwfix.com/p/pole-sander-260-x-85mm-85-x-260mm/33586?_requestid=86115

You tear a strip of silicon carbide sanding mesh ( see here: https://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-405780...rE1ZjxtstrKcvR3dQ_7Cer7Gzj1ZqNJKQAaAiya8P8HAQ) and clamp that onto the universal jointed pad on the end of the pole. Pole and a mesh roll - about £25 or so ( I also bought some 120 mesh for finer work, and working around the waterline, one roll lasts for ages, once one side of the a piece has worn out reverse it , a few strips will do a whole boat.
Click to expand...

Fantastic, thanks. I'll be getting one of those.
 
We got a guy in our boat-yard to do ours (26 ft fin) a few years ago, it took him 2 days to scape all the old anti-foul off back to the gel coat and he did great job. He did say 2 days best case 4 days worst case. It was then a days work to put a coat of epoxy then 6 coats of copper-coat on. Now e have a much smoother hull and there is a definte performance improvement. If you are in the portsmouth Areas I would be pleased to recommend him....
 
Andrew E said:
Roughly how long would it take for an amateur to scrape and re antifoul a 26ft bilge keel sailboat? Previously I've scraped a little 19ft motorboat which took bloody ages (weeks!!), not helped by the boat being on a road trailer and the chines. I'm hoping a sailboat doesn't take quite so long!
Click to expand...
I did my old 28 footer a few years ago. All in all about 4 days, BUT I would never ever do it again - get somebody in to soda blast it. You will save yourself much back and neck pain.
 
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