for $200 I will have you do it right now!!:laughs:

Cmon guys suck it up and get the respirator coveralls and DA out, I did my 24' last spring, I got it all done in a jiffy and had a nice clean bottom.

When do you want to start? :)

I'll give you $200 and a keg of Brooklyn Weisse:gu: :gu: :gu:

Got my full face 3M mask, porter cable random orbit, and an old shop vac in the basement. :hihi:

But half the reason they want an arm and a leg is the disposal of the bottom paint post sanding.
THAT is expensive.

I have a 2001 18 cc and the guy that I bought it from kept the boat in the water at a slip so the bottom is painted.... I on the other hand will trailor it and it will not be kept in the water what is recomended to do? The bottom is in good shape... the only troublesome spots are where the rollers are... some flaking but for the most part its in really good shape.

Thanks for any input.

sol...

sol, double up the coats where the rollers are.

What grit paper do you guys use to sand the old paint off? And does it tend to load up quick requiring alot of paper changing?

Slapshot,

I use like to use 60 grit on may random orbit. If I can't find it 80 at the finest.

Yes it may tend to load up and then stops working depending on type of paint sometimes requires frequent changes.

Last year I did Fishingfreaks wet sand method with the drywall pads and hose. I was impressed and may do it again. It is messy but no dust messy which is allot cleaner.

With a random orbit and vaccum attachment you'll still rip through pads pretty quickly.

But the paint comes off like BUTTAH. :hihi:

Hey guys....maybe the soda blasting folks will give us all a volume discount if we can get enough boats together......thoughts.?

Are you guys removing all of the bottom paint, down to gel coat, or just touching up to re-apply?

I want to remove it entirely as I am now on the trailer.

I want all mine gone!!
And after I am done depending how stained the bottom is I will make any repairs to gel coat and then paint with awlgrip to make a nice smooth bottom!! Might even go faster??

I never take it all off. Some spots do but if the adhesion is on the hull it stays. I just like to get the loose stuff off and then maybe a bit more than that to reduce long term build up. Personally I would have the patience to take it all off and IMO is not necessary.

Since your on a trailer now......if I were in your shoes I'd still just give it a good sanding and paint it again, but that is me.

I found a guy in Naragansett that will soda blast for $40 a foot. His name is John Armstrong phone 401-378-7881. If you call it couldn't hurt if you tell him you know me. He'll be doing my boat sometime before the end of the month. I'll let you know how it goes.

MM;
I may have seen his truck while I was filling up at PTJ Marina Monday... wanted to ask him about it but was in a rush...
good luck...

and beamie... spot on; get the loose %$%$%$%$ off and then paint it with ablative... good till next year!

Lately I have been using an ablative product. But I must say I would never trust it for another year, and I always sand or scuff things up to get some off. I can never believe when products say things like no sanding and good for 3 years etc. I like to put on a thin coat and go.

Hey Guys, new here but not new to boats:btu:

If you really want to get it all off and not hurt the gelcoat, you can use somthing called Nutec, iis specifically designed for this task. I have used it for years ans you just brush it on,leave it sit, and come back with a putty knife and slide it right off. This is all we use now as it works so good. If yanyone needs any more info just let me know.

Scott

I just stripped a 21' Regulator. 10-12 hours of Scraping and sanding... The best tool was a 1" Chisel got 100% off. This is the 5 or 6th bottom I did and have used the peel away and Paint Strippers in the past with poor results. When I was doing a bottom inspection on a 29' Blackfin I picked up in Brooklyn NY last month I saw the yard using this method and the foreman said it's the fastest method other than the soda blasting.

Remove it off the trailer to make it easier to work on! The Regulator would have been faster but there was about 25% of the hull that was painted correctly and a PIA to remove..

MTC, can you explain how you are using the 1" chisel to remove the bottom paint? I am guessing you are not hitting it with a hammer or mallet. And what kind of chisel do you mean? There is the woodworking chisel with a flat back, and then there is the chisel used in stone work, etc....

ScottC were do you get this stuff you speak of?? And how long is the wait time before you start removing the paint??

Thanks

Good info all.

I just power washed the bottom to get the flaky stuff off and now I will go back and sand with 60/80 and do a touchup like beamie suggested.

good to go.

sol...

Used a 1" and a 1 1/2" and just pushed it along the hull... it came off like butter. Keep the chisel sharp and use 2 hands so you don't gouge the gel coat.

If your in the RI , southern mass area you can get it from Composites One or from just about any serious refit marina,. like Hinclkey yachts, where I worked for 5 years. You can strip in about a half hour and I have done a 25 foot bottom in about 2 hours not busting my but. Scraping is a nightmare, so one who has to make money doesn't scrape dry bottoms. This stuff turns any bottom paint to soft mush and preserves the gelcoat, it is specifically designed for this purpose.

For those who think that strippers don't work your right, none of them do, but this one. And you cannot get it at west marine.

The blaster guy gave me what I think is a decent quote ($800) but the logistics for me make it too costly. ( round trip on the ferry (300+) Plus the cost of yard storage and taking it off the trailer and blocking for a day or so and putting it back on the trailer. Not to mention I would probably have to stay in a hotel over night and on and on... If I lived on the mainland I would try the soda blast.
(MM, let us kow how it works out)

I called the local boatyard and they but a guy on it to strip it to the gel coat and wipe it down with the wax removal agent, prep and re-paint. It will not be cheap but at least it will be done.

For me, dealing with antifoul bottom paint sucks. I like those florida boats that have a lift for their boats and the bottom is not painted.

Sandy,
I'll definately let everyone know how it works out.

I am coming up short in a google search for a Nutec distributor near CT. I would like to try this stuff. How is is applied? Can I brush it on?

The closest distributor I can find is the one you mentioned in Bristol, RI. A bit of a haul for me.

Is it called Nutec 2000 stripper or something like that?

I am leary of the chisel technique, as I intend to leave the boat unpainted after I strip.

Yeah you can brush it on, I prefer a textured roller BUT you have to get goggles and the obvious protection. The only place I have ever got it from was the marina I worked at in Portsmouth RI. I don't know if it is called nutec 2000, if you called a few local marinas I bet they will have it, Composites One distributes it to many marinas it the Mass, Conn and RI.

I have let this stuff sit for a couple hours, and scraped off 3 layers of bottom paint with a plastic scraper.

It is thick like jelly and is bright pink.

OK, I did a ton of research trying to track down Nutec. I finally got a number in California off of an MSDS sheet. THe people I spoke to said Nutec has been out of business for about five years.

They said they make a product called Take-Off that does the same thing but does not have the MEK in it. does anybody know if Take-Off is any good? The only new england distributor they have is near Boston (Northampton Paint).

Wow, I wonder if I am going to get cancer from useing it? I guess it has been a while since I used it, and it was all the rave. Methel Ethel Ketone is a common cleaner we used to use too! We used it clean our fiberglassing tools with it. Funny, when you add peroxide to is you get the catalyst for fiberglass resin. Do you know if they wen tout of business because of the health risks? I used a respirator everytime but I would still want to make sure. I am goint to call my connection at my old job and ask them what they use now, I will post it up with in the hour. Sorry for pointing you in the wrong direction.