Bottom Paint

We finished prepping the hull this morning. This involved moving all the jackstands holding up the boat and sanding those areas, as well as doing "cut-ins"--areas of the hull that couldn't be reached by the big grinders, such as around thru hulls and other exterior fittings. We re-masked the wateline, cleaned the bottom with compressed air on starting rolling on bottom paint. The owner chose to use Interlux Fiberglass Bottomkote, a classic modified-epoxy anti-foulant, which despite its name, is an excellent paint for wood boats. Common considerations for boat owners when choosing bottom paint are: is the existing paint hard or soft (ablative)? It's critical that this is determined because the two paints are not necessarily compatible. When coming into any boatyard for bottom paint, it's very helpful if the boatowner has bottom paint records. If those records aren't available, CSR can usually spec the kind of paint you have. Another consideration is if the boat's bottom will need any prep prior to paint. With new boats, a good pressure wash is often sufficient. If the boat's paint is flaking off, that's a sure sign that there is an adhesion problem and pretty much guarantees that if new paint is put on, it, too will also fail. Often a bit of prep is needed only on the waterline, or just in isolated parts of the hull. Sometimes, there's just too much paint on the boat and good adhesion simply cannot be guaranteed. In these cases, all the paint must be stripped off. This sounds a little scarier than it actually is, especially to sailboat owners, where the keel and the hull's bottom is of critical importance. It's a fairly routine for CSR Marine and while somewhat labor intensive, at the end of the day, most owners agree that it is a good investment.