To paint or not to paint topsides??

P

PJewkes

New Member
Joined
18 Jul 2006
Messages
3
Location
Dubai, UAE
Visit site
I have a Benetteau Oceanis 390, 1989. Topsides look in need of paint. Royal Bue is my choice, looks classy and matches bimini and sail bag. I live in Dubai (20C to 45C) and only live-aboard for 2 to 5 days at a time in cooler times, below 28C. How will darker colour topsides wear? Any comments?
 
Before going down the painting route try repolishing using fine or medium grade fibre glass polishing compounds from Farecla or 3M. Done properly with the correct foam compounding mop the results can be spectacular. Painting may ultimately be the last resort but once painted there is almost no going back and it will need periodic repainting. Dark blue seems to respond particularly well to polishing. A badly done paint job will look a mess.
The subject is a regular one on this forum so a search or two will find loads of advice.
 
Don't paint ...polish. Once you've painted it will be a right royal pain to go back...unless you are talking professional job with Awlgrip or similar...

Also would def advise against dark colours in hot climes...I painted mine a lovely dark blue a few years ago..berthed in Mallorca and it's like an oven in summer and a fridge in winter...the water tank is under in the old quarter berth away from the hull 2-3 inches...Try getting cold water in summer....aaaargh!

Regards
 
Painting is a last resort and Awlgrip's UK rep strongly advised against ANY dark colour, unless I was prepared to re-paint regularly. Apparently the big problem is with heat and even in out relatively temperate climate (hur hur who's kidding today) it's inadvisable.
 
You'll make a rod for your own back if you paint it. Especially a dark colour over a light one. Scratches.
Red is the most fade-prone pigment. Think of all the red cars you see that have faded to pink.
Green is the most fade resistant.
 
G'day Paul,

We painted the deck of a 28 foot monohull with a sandy beige international Interspray 900 about 10 years ago, also the hull in white with the same paint, it's a polyurethane 2 pot mix with long chain polymers.

Saw her about 6 months ago and had a few drinks on board, still looks very good and the light colour has improved the temperatures below decks according to the owner, important here in Oz at it tends to get a warm at times. It was a light brown prior to painting.

A friend has a cat that has the saloon sides painted red, every time he goes into a marina (about 3 times a year) he pulls out the polish and spends hours trying to remove the faded areas.

If you must paint it I would stay away from the Royal Blue and go for a lighter colour other than blue or red.

Avagoodweekend......
 
My boat used to be a lovely dark blue. Boat was owned by a scot who sailed her down from near Dundee.

Inside was like a sauna in summer - and we're way to the north of Dubai! The colour might have made sense in the north, but certainly not down here. (First thing to be ripped out was a diesel heater, a Reflex)

Sprayed her white some 6 years ago using two-pack acrylic and oodles of advice from the paint supplier (who had started as a car sprayer). Me, I had never sprayed anything larger than a 1Metre class R/C boat.

Six years on, the boat is still a brilliant white. The inside is much, much cooler. I would never keep a dark boat again.

On the other hand, if I could afford to have air-conditioning as well . . . . . /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Advise not to is spot on. As VicS points out, try a cut and polish, although I suspect you're proposing a colour change? Saw research data for auto paints once that suggested something like 45 degrees C for a gloss white car on a hot day, and over 200 degrees C for gloss black in same conditions - imagine dark blue isn't that far from black.
 
A couple of people have pm'd me about our regel work. here is the text of the reply - I have a slight aversion to not sharing information freely and having private conversations on items that might be helpful to others

Hello.

When we bought our boat she had been used as a liveaboard in the med. The gelcoat on deck was UV degraded and the topsides had been damaged and patch repaired badly. The colour match was poor on the repairs and the bow area had been painted over an was peeling. There were various structural repairs needed and the whole boat was a mess. Mess was bought cheap and became project.

The bill for all the GRP work was just over £3000.

The gelcoat was ground back with an industrial sanding machine with coarse grit. Six layers of gel coat rollered and trowelled on. The the gel coat was sanded back fair and sanded with finer and finer grit until eventually polished and waxed.

I didn't do this work, but that is what I saw happen.

Hope that this helps.

Regards John
 
I did the cut back and polish and was amazed by the results, but a year later the gel was badly stained and had lost its gloss again.

In february I scrubbed with TLSea and "Poliglowed" it. Much easier, the hull came up a treat and is still looking good.

www.poliglow.co.uk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top