Bottom paint reapplication question

SSBN506 · #1 (**permalink**) 04-18-2008

Hi Everyone,
I am new to sailing and just purchased my first boat a 24.5 foot Challenger . Living in Canada right now the boat is on hard. The boat is at a yacht club about an hour and a half drive down river from the yacht club I will be keeping the boat at.
The boat was sailed in a mix of fresh water and salt water. The type of bottom paint I think is called ablative. It is the soapy kind they dissolves off. Now the previous owner told me I should clean it all off and repaint. I am wondering if I can just touch it up where it has worn off. Next year when the boat is at my yacht club a 5 min drive from house I am going to clean it all off and redo it. But for the first year could I get away with just a touch up. I will only be sailing in fresh water.

bubb2 · #2 (**permalink**) 04-18-2008

Welcome to sailnet! You need to find out if the paint on your boat is a single season or multi-season ablative. If a multi-season you can just touch it up. if it is a single season you need to repaint. No need to strip the paint, either way just re-coat where it is worn or re-coat the whole boat.

sailingfool · #3 (**permalink**) 04-18-2008

I've never heard of a single season ablative, that certainly would be a bad idea, and don't recognize what paint would be "the soapy kind", but the whole value of the ablative paint is that you only need to touch it up each season, you should not put a full coat on unless it's the convenient way to address touching up the entire bottom. Taking existing ablative off, to re-apply more is just a waste of $$ and time, so there is some confusion somewhere. If you repaint an ablative bottom every year, you end up with paint that is too thick and prone to chipping, and you in fact then need to strip it all.

sailingdog · #4 (**permalink**) 04-18-2008

Given that the boat was sailed in salt and fresh water, I'd imagine that any paint on it is probably more than sufficient for fresh water only use. You can probably get away with just touching it up, if it was in fact an ablative paint. Hard epoxy paints, most of them, will "de-activate" if left out of the water... and will generally need to be sanded a bit and re-painted. Probably worthwhile to contact the previous owner and ask what paint they used.

SSBN506 · #5 (**permalink**) 04-18-2008

Hi guys,
thanks for the advice. I will reverify what type and brand of paint he used. He gave me the cans as their was sum left.

Freesail99 · #6 (**permalink**) 04-18-2008

Pettit Unepoxy is considered to be a single season bottom paint.

bubb2 · #7 (**permalink**) 04-18-2008

Here's the tech page for Interlux Act probability the largest selling single season ablative.

yachtpaint.com - the website of International and Interlux paints

sailingdog · #8 (**permalink**) 04-18-2008

Free-

Don't believe Pettit Unepoxy is an ABLATIVE.

Freesail99 · #9 (**permalink**) 04-18-2008

SD, I am not sure, as I never have used it. It is used alot at the yard that I am at. From the Petit web site:

Unepoxy Standard is a modified epoxy that dries to a hard finish able to withstand season-long use and abuse. It has excellent adhesion to fiberglass, wood and properly primed steel hulls and is compatible over most previously applied bottom paints

bubb2 · #10 (**permalink**) 04-18-2008

On the other hand, here is the tech sheet on Micron the largest selling multi-season ablative.
yachtpaint.com - the website of International and Interlux paints

The difference is about a$100 a gallon