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On Tue, 01 Feb 2005 19:03:13 GMT, wrote:
Greetings,
I just took the hull (waterline down) of my Sea Ray 300 Weekender down
to the gelcoat for a bottom job. The hull was supposed to have been
stripped and painted last time, but all the yard did was sand the
waterline down to make it look like they did the entire hull, and then
just painted over the old bottom. As such, when I pulled the boat
last week, I had 6 old bottom jobs to contend with. This time, I'm
doing the bottom myself.
I'm putting an epoxy barrier coat on the hull, before the ablative
paint goes on. The question is, how many coats of the epoxy do I
need? I've read anywhere from 2 to 6, so I'm shooting for 3, because
the first coat went on fairly thick.
Any advice would be appreciated........
I did this 6 years ago on my 25' Tiara, due to the same symptoms you
describe. I used Interprotect 2000, and followed the procedure from
the painting guide on the Interlux website - to the letter. Lot's of
work, but 6 years later you'd need a jackhammer to get the epoxy off -
I know, there is a spot on the hull where the epoxy got under the
masking tape, and dried there. Left a small blot of gray on the side
of the hull. Won't come off, even though that particular spot wasn't
exactly prepped properly :-(. Just remember, cleanliness is next to
godliness when it comes to this!!
BTW, I used 5 coats of Interprotect, which I figured would give the
required thickness. And the first two coats of ablative antifouling
were a different color than the top coats - "telltale coats" they call
it, I think. When you start to see the telltale color showing
through, it's time for a couple more coats of the finish color.
Lot's of luck - this is a dirty, nasty job, but the results will save
you much more work in the long run. I'm in the water 10 months a
year, and have never had any regrets.
Just be sure to wear protective clothing, an approved mask, etc.
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