Bottom paint: Let's talk bottoms

[pamdemonium]

So I just finished the longest haulout ever. (Which is even longer than forever for a liveaboard who has to climb up a 12 foot ladder to go to sleep.) I was out a whole month due to rainy weather.  And to boot, I found blisters~6 years after I did the interprotect 1000-1001, 2000-2001 barrier coat.  I thought that the Barrier coat was a once in a lifetime fix, but now find that it is usually only a 5 year fix.  AGH!!!  Anyway.  I painted over them all like I did not see them.  I plan to haul again spring 2008 and have sandblaster come in; then do a west system over the whole kit and kaboodle and do another interprotect barrier boat.  We'll see who laughs last!  Anyone else have suggestions?
I have also taken a permanent position here in Norfolk.  I am the clinical practice specialist for the emergency department woohooo.   I am not quite sure that permanent is in my vocabulary, but I'll give it a shot.  Ya'll come see me!!

[CapnK]

Congrats on the new job, Pam. :) Bummer about the blisters, they suck. :( It would seem to me that the barrier coat should last longer than 5 years. I'd never thought about variations in the products used, and how they might affect performance over the long term. Anyway, I think that your paint will hold them in place until you can get around to them. ;) The West Sytem treatment you write about sounds like it should do the trick, if you get the hull good and dry after the sandblasting.

Now that you presumably have better/more 'net access, you'll have to write up your journeys and experiences for us to read about. :)

For the record, what year was you NorSea made?

[AdriftAtSea]

Pam-

Welcome, and if you're still down there next year, I'd love to meet you.  My in-laws, Gee's family, live in Tidewater Virginia, and I'm planning on sailing down to visit them next summer.

[pamdemonium]

I have a  1977 (Hull #6) aft cabin Norsea. 
Norfolk has a great sailing community.  Lots of marinas to chose from, lots of brains to pick if you have issues. 
I bought a 1976 26 Pearson for my son (on EBay-$378  :D)  and we worked on that all summer.  It still has the mast down as we need to complete the shroud rebuilds, but ther than that I learned soooo much. I am a fiberglass queen and together; we paint like the boat was dipped in liquid plastic.  If I ever give up nursing, there are jobs in boat work for me (and they pay more!)

[CapnK]

If I ever give up nursing, there are jobs in boat work for me (and they pay more!)

Isn't that the truth? There has been a lady here for a couple of weeks now, she came up from Florida a couple months back and set up 'appointments' ahead of time. After they saw the first boat she did, the capt's were lining up to hire her. Her specialty is polishing gelcoat. She is making a mint here, charging ~$20/ft+ to make all the big sportfishermen boat hulls (45'-60') nice and shiny. She spends two/three days per boat.

Good money, that...

[krissteyn]

This posting caught my arrention - just bought a 35' challenger with 10 year old barrier coat needing plenty of TLC.

If the barrier coat has lifted and the bottom paint doesnt stck - what to do ???

kris  -  hauling out this month to fix...

[krissteyn]

SODA-BLASTING ???

have researched that and at least 1 person has said "sandblasting is not a good idea"
Will only make a decision when she is on the hard and stripped of obvious problems.  But keep posting - more info is good - I can sort it out OK (I think)... ;)

kris

[AdriftAtSea]

Soda blasting is far gentler to the gelcoat than is sand blasting.  It uses baking soda as the medium, rather than sand.  You can read more about it here.

[Pixie Dust]

Pam, I am a nurse too and getting ready to take a break and head out for about a yr.  It is nice to know I have options if I need some extra cash flow along the way.  I have not done hands on nursing in about 10yrs and hope I do not have to go back to that.  I have been doing case management.   I too just did my bottom.  Not a fun job!!  I have some issues that I will definetly have to deal with on the next haul out.  Some were fixed, but some were overlooked and I painted over as well.  I like to think of them as freckles...or more like moles.  :)  I have a concrete haul, so it is not so bad to have them there I guess.  Her bottom sure looks pretty though.  :D

[pamdemonium]

Connie-
I think anything that we learn to do along the way is life skills and icing on the cake.  You never know where you might end up "out there", and to have a sundry of skills lets you be more comfortable in knowing that things will be "okay".  Course boat repair pays better than most.  Take a sewing machine and practice, take some repair books so that you have a "reference library", be open to a learning experience, and don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. 
Have a great year!  Where are you going?

[AdriftAtSea]

Since Spring is here, or at least is supposed to be here... I saw something that might be of interest to those of you who have boat bottoms to sand.  Even though it is meant for drywall sanding, it might be useful.

Sand & Kleen Dustless Drywall Sanding Dust-busting drywall sander

Sanding drywall is messy and nasty— it's hard on both your tools and lungs. With this system the majority of the dust is sucked up right at the sanding pad. The sanding head, which uses standard sanding screens, is attached to a hose that runs to the Aquair Water Filter, a five gallon bucket that has a another hose you attach to a Shop-Vac (not provided). As you sand, the dust is sucked through 36 little holes on a pad attached to the sanding head. When the dust hits the water it goes into suspension, and doesn't reach (or ruin) the Shop-Vac. Note: after a good bit of use, you will need to change the water.

You can see the item here.

[Cmdr Pete]

Dude.......

They should call that...

"The Bottom Bong"

Awesome

[AdriftAtSea]

LOL... If you put a big glass bowl on it, I guess it would work for that too.

[Leroy - Gulf 29]

Outside of not inhaling  ;D those are a standard sanding attachement for drywall.  You can pick them up at your local Home Despot.  They work for drywall, so it'd make sense that they'd work for pretty much any hand sanding.  You need a perforated screed though.  They don't work with regular sandpaper.

[AdriftAtSea]

I think they'd probably work with the dust extraction port on most power sanding equipment too. 

[Fortis]

They would indeed, but it is likely you would need to put some addititve into the water so that the static charge on the particles (fibreglass dust especially) does not render them hydrophobic, letting them skim the water while staying dry and still getting into the vaccuum.

I am also not really happy that they have opted to have the intake pipe exit two inches ABOVE the waterline instead of having the pipe go down into the water and have perforations below waterline to allow small bubbles to discharge their contents inot the water while submerged.

The method they have chosen puts less straign on the shopvac...but it suffers in terms of results at water filter.

Now if it were me, I would go and grab a 20ltr bucket with a lid, two plastic through hull connectors and some hoses from the cheap yacht supply shop...and have my version of one of these built in less then twenty minutes.

About three table spoons of vegetable oil into the water will do wonders for catching dust at the surface....

Alex.

[AdriftAtSea]

Alex-

On the unit my friend has, the intake pipe is below water level. Now, where did you find a cheap yatch supply shop???

Dan

[AdriftAtSea]

Well, I recently finished barrier coating and bottom painting the Pretty Gee.  I just put her back in the water on last Thursday, after completing the application of a boot stripe.  I thought you might like to see some photos... so here are a few of her as I was finishing up the painting and boot striping, and one of her in the water.

Let me know what you think. :D

[AllAboutMe]

Looking good!!!! What did you use as a barrier coat?

[AdriftAtSea]

Interlux Interprotect 2000.  It's a two-part epoxy-based barrier coat.