Well the soon to be new to me 1987 Carver 3207 passed is survey and
mechanical inspection. I knew going in that I am going to have to strip the
multiple layers of chipped up bottom paint when the boat comes out of the
water for the season. I tried the plastic putty knife when the boat was
hauled for the survey and I don't think that's going to work. So the
options are sanding or using chemical strippers... however, I have been
reading and hearing about soda blasting - a high pressure water blaster with
a sandblaster type attachment using baking soda as the media. Supposedly
baking soda is much softer than sand and it won't cut the gelcoat. Has
anyone heard about this or had any experience with this? Thanks.

-Dan Olstad

"Dan Olstad" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Well the soon to be new to me 1987 Carver 3207 passed is survey and
mechanical inspection. I knew going in that I am going to have to strip
the
multiple layers of chipped up bottom paint when the boat comes out of the
water for the season. I tried the plastic putty knife when the boat was
hauled for the survey and I don't think that's going to work. So the
options are sanding or using chemical strippers... however, I have been
reading and hearing about soda blasting - a high pressure water blaster
with
a sandblaster type attachment using baking soda as the media. Supposedly
baking soda is much softer than sand and it won't cut the gelcoat. Has
anyone heard about this or had any experience with this? Thanks.

-Dan Olstad



A good alternative. If you do soda blast make sure you barrier coat (epoxy
coat) the bottom prior to bottom coating it. Use a color of epoxy coat that
is different from your normal bottom coat color so you know where it is worn
through.