bottom paint

flyingdiva · #1 (**permalink**) 02-13-2005

Hi everyone!
My husband & I are purchasing (hopefully) our 1st sailboat in the next few weeks. It is a Lancer 28''. We have never owned a sailboat before. I would like to paint the bottom this year before we put it in the water. The bottom paint right now actually doesnt look all that bad (compared to some I have seen) nonetheless, if this is a job we can handle on our own I would like to do it. My question is, how big of a job is it and how costly. This boat has only ever been in freshwater and will continue to be in fresh water. It is in a cradle right now. It goes in the water sometime in May. The bottom appears to be in good shape, paint is just starting to fade. I was talking with someone who said we would just need to scrape off any loose paint, and apply new paint. Does that sound right? Please forgive my ignorance, I''m sure we''ll have lots more ?''s.
Thanks!

WHOOSH · #2 (**permalink**) 02-13-2005

Diva, I would suggest you lean on one of the paint manufacturers'' instructional media, as they have a lot at stake in you (the customer) getting good results from their product. E.g. International Paints offers a free CD on their entire line, with application instructions, good pics, and so forth. You have the time, so digging into this kind of professionally prepared info will be more comprehensive - and better directed to a specific product - than what you can get from BB postings. And yes, you are certainly capable of doing this kind of project; and by doing, learning.

BTW for fresh water, you are probably not going to make any decisions that will prove irreversible. You''re in a good situation to build the learning curve. Meanwhile, congrats on the new/first boat!

Jack

flyingdiva · #3 (**permalink**) 02-13-2005

Thanks for the info Jack!

sailnaway · #4 (**permalink**) 02-13-2005

Ask the last owner what paint he put on the boat this will give you a good place to start. You need to know this so you do not put the wrong paint ovr the old which might cause the new paint to come off. After you find out what paint he used match what he put on and prep the bottom the way the Paint manufacturer says to light sand strip Ugggg I don''t like that word or wash and dry and paint. You will find allot of information on this at www.yachtpaint.com www.seakawkpaints.com www.petit.com look for the sections on compatabuility.

flyingdiva · #5 (**permalink**) 02-13-2005

The current owner never painted the bottom. Apparently it was fairly freshly painted when he got it, and he has had it for about a year & a half to 2 years. How important is it to know this?