2005 Sundancer Bottom Paint

[Steve36]

Hi there, hope somebody can help me with my question regarding the bottom paint on my 2005 Sundancer.

1) Can you tell me what is the orginal bottom paint that is on the boat.
2) I am in Freshwater in Canada and just wondering how often should the bottom be repainted.
3) as bare spots become visible do I just go over with the new bottom paint over these spots as touch ups or should I redo the whole bottom.
4) If I am doing touch ups do I need to prepare (sand) the area being touched up or do I just paint over it.

This is a totaly new thing to me since the boat bottom is original from 2005 so I am not sure on what I should be doing.

Thanking everyone in advance for your help.

 

[jason78]

I know up until recently Sea Ray used Pettit Hydrocoat 1840 Black on the Sport Cruisers. Not sure if it would have been the same on the Yachts. A quick email to Sea Ray customer service with your Hull ID Number will answer this question for sure.

I touch up mine twice a year and tape and repaint the upper half once a year. Basically as needed. I am still on original Bottom Paint and it is in reasonably good shape.

Be careful sanding bottom paint without proper breathing protection and skin protection. There is alot of bad stuff in that paint. I have heard many boat yards do not allow bottom paint sanding by owners but that is mainly due to the particles blowing on other people and boats. When I start thinking I need to sand mine, that is when I will have a professional sand and repaint it, but that is just me.

 

[AKBASSKING]

I used Interlux for my bottom.

Here was my adventure and all the info:

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/24963-300DB-Restoration-Continues-Bottom-Paint

 

[Steve36]

Thanks for your help.
I dont think I need to do a full bottom paint. I think just touching it up will do for now.

Stupid question but what signs do I look for to tell me that the bottom needs looking after.

 

[AKBASSKING]

Thanks for your help.
I dont think I need to do a full bottom paint. I think just touching it up will do for now.

Stupid question but what signs do I look for to tell me that the bottom needs looking after.

I would look at the general condition of your bottom paint. Some paints are not compatable with others, so do your research. With mine, the paint was very thick, some 6 coats or more. I wanted to find out if I had any blistering and know the condition of the hull, plus get rid of all the extra weight. Bottom paint is heavy, all you have to do is pick up a gallon can to see what I mean. Sealing it was a big deal for me.

 

[Henry Boyd]

Thanks for your help.
I dont think I need to do a full bottom paint. I think just touching it up will do for now.

Stupid question but what signs do I look for to tell me that the bottom needs looking after.

First confirm what you have as Jason suggested. The issues are compatibility based on type of paint. There are essentially two main types of bottom paint. The first is ablative, the other are the so called hard paints. As the name suggests the ablatives are designed to slough off as the boat moves through the water. This eliminates any growth by simply allowing it to wash off and also exposes fresh paint (and anti-fouling chemicals). The hard paints also as the name implies are designed to go on, stay on and leach out the anti-fouling.

The was a time when hard paints went on power boats and ablatives went on sail. The reasoning was simply mechanical. The early ablatives were literally like chalk (and some still are). However ablatives use the anti-fouling chemicals more efficiently. Growing worldwide environmental regulation on all types of vessels, forced the paint makers to come up with new solutions. One of which was the creation of ablatives that could be used on power boats. These newer ablatives (e.g. Petit Hydrocoat) are actually quite hard. As a result, it is very tough to visually tell the difference.

Now we come to compatibility. You can put an ablative over old hard paint (assuming it is stuck on ok). However, putting a hard paint over ablative is not so successful. And in fact putting different brands of ablative together can be dodgy as well.

I can't stress how important doing the research can be. Incompatible, or a poorly done, paint job really s__ks. I had a bad bottom job on my 280 and was spending 8 hours in prep time every year to re-paint. The end solution was to soda blast, epoxy barrier coat and then re-bottom paint with Hydrocoat. Next spring all I will need to do is touch up the low spots.

If you have hard paint, it is a sand with 80 grit and re-paint completely. If it is an ablative (and it probably is) its a scuff and touch up.

Henry