Bottom Paint - how to identify what you have?

[Preserved]

Hey everyone,

I just bought a Catalina 22 in great shape. What ever the bottom paint is on there is in fairly good shape. The previous owner did not know what was on there, now I don't either.

Is there a way to tell what it is? The bottom paint is reddish brown, and not particularly hard. I can rub it right off with acitone solvent with not too much trouble. Would this be an ablative coating??? Can I paint right over this? The hull itself is in fantastic shape. Very smooth and sound. No blisters from what I can tell. Boat is 1986, was moored some. but also sat in storage for a portion of it's life.

Thanks for any tips...

Jeff F.

[Fstbttms]

Any paint can be removed with a solvent, that's what solvent does. So that's not a particularly good way to identify the type of paint you have. If the boat was trailered in the past, it likely has an ablative, as ablatives are able to withstand extended periods exposed to air, unlike other anti foulings.

Regardless, assuming it is not something exotic and assuming you don't intend to paint over it with something exotic, you can paint over it. Ablatives can go over ablatives or epoxies and conversely, epoxies can go over epoxies or ablatives. Generally just sand and paint. Here is the West Marine Paint Compatibility Chart for reference:

	Bottom Paint Compatibility Chart
	Old Paint to Remove
		Modified Expoxies	Copolymers & Ablatives	Vinyl Paints	Sloughing Paint	Thin Film Paint	Vivid & Tri-Lux 33
	Modified Expoxies	Sand & Paint	Sand & Paint	Sand Well	Sand Well	Remove	Sand & Paint
	Copolymers/Ablatives	Sand & Paint	Light Sand & Paint	Sand Well	Remove	Remove	Sand & Paint
	Vinyl Paints	Remove	Remove	Sand Well & Paint	Remove	Remove	Remove
	Sloughing Paint	Sand & Paint	Sand & Paint	Sand Well & Paint	Sand & Paint	Remove	Sand Well & Paint
	Thin Film Paint	Remove	Remove	Sand & Paint	Remove	Clean & Paint	Remove

[sailingdog]

Sounds like an ablative, and unless you can positively identify it, I would not paint over it.