Hi Roger, just a short comment (about our VC 17 experience) from
Denmark (salt water sailing):
We have been sailing an Albin Ballad (30 feet sail boat -
http://groups.msn.com/albin-ballad ) for 11 years and always used VC
17.
The bottom is - and has always been - very smooth/plain - whatever the
right word is ...
When we take the boat out of the water in October/November, we use
water, a brush and sometimes a 3M product (I don't know the name, but
it is also used on drilling machines as small round polishing disks)
in squared form on a bar and remove all "foreign objects" ... and
finally, we wash with fresh water.
In springtime (March/April) we wash again with a brush, and when the
"underwater hull and keel"/bottom is dry, we paint twice with a small
roller. It dries very fast (do not use it if the temperature is below
10 degrees centigrade), and you may leave your boat on land for a
pretty long time after having applied VC 17.
We have never had to sand the bottom since 1995, and the bottom is
still "as new" (the boat was built 1973!).
The major reason for using VC 17 in the first hand was the possibility
of having a very smooth/fast bottom (we used to race).
The major reason to day is, that it is very easy and fast to apply -
it is "as thin as water" ... and we are not very good a painting ...
When the bottom is painted it has a very nice "copper like" surface,
but as soon as the boat enters the water, it turns almost black ...
The only disadvantage we can find is the cost of using VC 17: In
Denmark it is more expensive than other types of bottom paints.
Best regards
Flemming Torp
"Roger Long" skrev i en meddelelse
...
I'm about to paint the bottom with another coat of Interlux VC 17 M.
The data sheet is a bit ambiguous. In one place it seems to say
that old paint should be sanded. In another is says sanding is not
necessary when the old paint is VC 17 M.
I think I remember the yard that put the VC 17 M over the VC 17 that
came with the boat saying that all that needed to be done is go over
the surface with a Scotch Brite pad.
Anybody out there successfully recoated with VC 17 M without
sanding?
Last year's paint looks tight and solid. Sanding is a big deal in
my yard because we have to rent a vacuum sander and drape everything
with plastic.
--
Roger Long