Bottom paint removal question

[thefishingfreak]

you can do what they call a carolina coat. i used to do it on my little boat.
do the running surface with vc offshore{sailboat race paint} and the sides whear the sun hits with regular antifouling paint. held up great for me and i'd like to think the slick bottom saved a little bit of fuel/added a little speed.
i have no way to prove it did,, but in theory it did.

[Sluggoslinger]

Can you use the albative over the hard? The bottom of my boat is a disaster... The origional marina which I don't use any more due to the various damage they did to my boat. (Didn't use any sealant on the transome mounted transducer when screwing it in, put bottom paint on a new boat without even cleaning the bottom, I can chip parts off with a paint scraper, charging me for a spring service, towing the boat to the mooring and leaving it there when they never even checked the steering fluid...)

The bottom has over 10 coats in spots and none in others. I think it must be slowing the boat down. My problem is that I have to do the job under a trailer and it can be pretty miserable. Anyone have any suggestions to make this job easier?

[Mr. Sandman]

Yes you can use ablative over hard (but not the other way around because the ablative sluffs off over time).

However it sounds like you are in the same boat I am, you really need to get down to gel coat and begin anew if you want it to look decent. I feel your pain! I may go with that new Pettit bio bottom paint remover. It got a good review and try that. It is cheaper then 1500 bucks for a soda blast but probably more deadly

[RIROCKHOUND]

Ablative all the way..
a quick power wash in the fall and then repaint in the spring....

BTW West marine was having a sale last week, maybe still are, paint was cheap, especially with the old Port Supply Card....

SS; It's a pain in the ass isnt it (on the trailer) get some jack-stands, if you are gonna do it every year buy some boat stands from west, put some blocks under the keel... makes it a lot easier than a trailer....

[macojoe]

$1100 for my 20 footer

I think I am going to go one more season and then try to get it back to the gel coat?

There is a ton on there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I keep mine on a trailer so when I am done it depends what it looks like (stained) if I will repaint? But if I do, I will paint with a hard paint (enamel) or something

[SolOmoN]

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...

[likwid]

sol, double up the coats where the rollers are.

[slapshot]

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?

[beamie]

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.

[likwid]

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

But the paint comes off like BUTTAH.

[slapshot]

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.

[macojoe]

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??

[beamie]

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.

[MTC]

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..

[slapshot]

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....

[macojoe]

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

Thanks

[SolOmoN]

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...

[ScottC]

Originally Posted by macojoe

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

Thanks

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.

[Mr. Sandman]

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.

[MakoMike]

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

[MTC]

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.

[slapshot]

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.

[ScottC]

Originally Posted by slapshot

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.

[slapshot]

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).

[ScottC]

Originally Posted by slapshot

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.

[slapshot]

Hey no sweat. FYI I found a lawsuit against Nutec in my search and if I remember right, it had something to do with the stripper.

Any info you pass along is appreciated.

[ScottC]

Originally Posted by slapshot

Hey no sweat. FYI I found a lawsuit against Nutec in my search and if I remember right, it had something to do with the stripper.

Any info you pass along is appreciated.

I totally believe it, it worked so damn good it there had to be somthing wrong with it. Figures .

[ScottC]

ICI Dulox Providence 401 732 8999 Call them and ask for Nutec, they will tell you they do not sell it, but have somthing else that works as good, this is what they are useing now. He could not tell me the name off the top of his head, but it is somthing like strip -off or strip-ease or somthing to that effect.

[slapshot]

I bought the Take-Off from a vendor in Northampton, MA last night. I got it home and put it on a 4"x4" test patch. In about 30 minutes I came back and took off the 3-4 layers of bottom paint. It came off pretty darn easy. I will be doing a much larger area on Saturday before the rain comes. I will try to take some before and after pics. Right now the hull looks pretty ugly with flaking bottom paint all over.

[ScottC]

Sweet man, it sounds like how the nutec worked and i bet it won;t kill you as fast hahah.